On the debut episode of Same Old Stripes, Tyler Olson, Billy Heenan, and Willie Lutz break down the Cincinnati Bengals path in the 2021 NFL Draft. With the pick trending towards Ja’Marr Chase, the trio took aggressive paths towards fixing empty spots on the rest of the roster in their four-round mock drafts. Plus, they get into some interesting opinions on the rest of the 2021 NFL Draft at the end of the show. Like and subscribe now – don’t miss next week’s episode of Same Old Stripes.
Willie Lutz is a Loveland, Ohio native and a graduate of Loveland High School.
Willie Lutz reporting for Loveland Magazine from Tiger Stadium in 2014
by Cassie Mattia
Loveland, Ohio – Loveland Magazine throughout the years has had many opportunities to both meet and mold journalism interns into talented multi-dimensional professional journalists. Many have gone on to be very successful writers, broadcasters, reporters, and filmmakers; recently one previous Loveland Magazine intern and former Loveland High School grad announced he just landed a new writing gig!
Willie Lutz was a paid intern at Loveland Magazine during his Junior and Senior years at LHS, his primary role being to write about LHS sports and to do on-air post-game reports. Lutz has since been a frequent contributor to Loveland Magazine.
Lutz recently released the news that he accepted a position at Last Word on Sports where he will be responsible for reporting all things NFL, primarily the Cincinnati Bengals.
Willie Lutz file photo from when he reported sports for Loveland Magazine
“I’m excited to join the team at Last Word On Sports,” Lutz announced on his Facebook page, “I’ve greatly missed sports writing and I found a perfect landing spot! To kick things off, I wrote about Joe Burrow’s desire to keep Zac Taylor in Cincinnati and what that means for the Bengals.”
Loveland Magazine’s Editor in Chief David Miller was estatic about Lutz’s new opportunity!
“I’m not the biggest Bengal’s fan but if I was I would certainly be keeping up with what Willie is writing! He’s very, very good at what he does. I read what Willie writes and follow him and he’s now got me following the Bengals,” Miller said.
LastWordOnSports.com is essentially a network of sports-related entities encompassing type media and radio. The site was established in August 2011 with a focus on the major professional leagues.
Read on at:
We would like to take the opportunity to congratulate Willie Lutz for obtaining such an awesome journalism position! Thank you so much Willie for providing Loveland Magazine with your outstanding articles! We hope that you will continue to succeed and thrive in the world of Sports Journalism! Good Luck!
Stay tuned for more of your Sports 411 With Me, Cassie Mattia!
Former Loveland Magazine sports writer Willie Lutz is now writing for Last Word On Sports. Here is what he says about a few exciting Cincinnati Bengals draft targets who will play in the National Championship tonight.
In the last college football game of the 2020 season, Ohio-based fans plenty of reasons to watch. Certainly, Alabama and Ohio State are already an exciting pairing of teams in the headline-grabbing game. However, there are a few draft targets for the Cincinnati Bengals in this game, adding an extra level of excitement for those fans.
In the National Championship, There Will Be a Few Exciting Cincinnati Bengals Draft Targets
While the Cincinnati Bengals aren’t in the playoffs, they’re dreaming of a chance to make that splash in 2021. However, a player who could help the team cross that threshold could cap their own playoff run tomorrow. Ohio State and Alabama face off in tomorrow’s College Football Championship with a slew of top NFL prospects. Both have players on their roster that should be draft targets for the Cincinnati Bengals. With Zac Taylor returning in 2021, there are some obvious needs to fit his scheme and regime.
Obviously, the Bengals need to target offensive line help this offseason. It seems like the team’s top priority this spring and summer.
Former Loveland Magazine sports writer Willie Lutz is now writing for Last Word On Sports. Here is what he says about Jessie Bates III being honored as Second-Team All-Pro.
As playoff weekend arrives with the Bengals sitting at home, an emerging member of the team’s core received exciting news. Finding his footing well in the NFL so far, Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates III was named to the AP All-Pro Second Team as a Safety.
After a 4-11-1 season with a crash ending, Cincinnati Bengals fans have a reason to celebrate their campaign. Third-year safety Jessie Bates III was selected as an AP All-Pro safety on their Second Team. This news comes as the team heads towards an incredibly important offseason that includes augmenting the defense around Bates. Earlier, Bates was named a first-team All-Pro by Pro Football Focus, who graded him the fourth-best defender of the 2020 season, earning a 90.1 grade on the season.
Former Loveland Magazine sports writer Willie Lutz is now writing for Last Word On Sports. Here is what he says about Cincinnati Bengals Firings of Coaches.
After a putrid loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Cincinnati Bengals’ firings began in the coach’s room. While the roster has its shortcomings, the recent shake-up doesn’t address obvious staffing issues.
As the Dust Settles, Cincinnati Bengals Firings Seem to Miss the Mark
In the early hours of the NFL’s Black Monday for coaches, the Cincinnati Bengals stood by head coach Zac Taylor. The team’s owner and general manager, Mike Brown, released a statement announcing his confidence in Taylor moving forward. However, recent development revealing a number of other Cincinnati Bengals staff firings show that confidence isn’t booming inside the team’s front office.
It was announced today that John Prine has died. Former Loveland Magazine columnist Willie Lutz recorded a tribute to Prine when he heard the news.
Lutz said, “Gonna miss this John Prine quite a bit. Stole a lot from him as a finger-picking guitar player, stole a little bit as a songwriter, and in between took a lot of lessons from one of the great wordsmiths of all time.”
From Fiona Whelan Prine…
Our beloved John died yesterday evening at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville TN. We have no words to describe the grief our family is experiencing at this time. John was the love of my life and adored by our sons Jody, Jack and Tommy, daughter in law Fanny, and by our grandchildren.
John contracted Covid-19 and in spite of the incredible skill and care of his medical team at Vanderbilt he could not overcome the damage this virus inflicted on his body.
I sat with John – who was deeply sedated- in the hours before he passed and will be forever grateful for that opportunity.
My dearest wish is that people of all ages take this virus seriously and follow guidelines set by the CDC. We send our condolences and love to the thousands of other American families who are grieving the loss of loved ones at this time – and to so many other families across the world.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the outpouring of love we have received from family, friends, and fans all over the world. John will be so missed but he will continue to comfort us with his words and music and the gifts of kindness, humor and love he left for all of us to share.
In lieu of flowers or gifts at this time we would ask that a donation be made to one of the following non profits:
Willie Lutz is a former Loveland resident, a graduate of Loveland High School, and former sportswriter for Loveland Magazine
By Willie Lutz
Closing the regular season with a convincing 33-23 victory over the listless Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Bengals closed their first run with Zac Taylor at head coach with a 2-14 record and a whole lot of questions left to answer. Granted, the close of the regular season now brings the season of change for this organization.
While the Bengals have plenty of structural reloading to do across this roster, with changes being needed in just about every position category, the team has to decide how the foundation of their team progresses with two key contracts this offseason; A.J. Green and Joe Mixon.
Both players have also made their interest in remaining Bengals-for-life pretty clear, especially for Green who’s modeled his career after Arizona Cardinals-lifer Larry Fitzgerald.
If it comes down to a pick-em, it seems relatively clear that Mixon will carry the day.
Certainly, a “why not both” reality exists, as the $17.7 million owed to QB Andy Dalton, $11.1 million owed to CB Dre Kirkpatrick, and $9.5 million owed to LT Cordy Glenn in 2020 could very easily come off the books at some point early in this offseason. Despite the ability to make up the money, the team may decide it’s one or the other; if it comes down to a pick-em, it seems relatively clear that Mixon will carry the day.
Here’s how Mixon and Green have fared over the past two seasons:
Joe Mixon: 30 games, 2,305 rushing yards, 96.3 total yards per game, 17 total touchdowns, 4.5 yards per rushing attempt.
A.J. Green: 9 games (none since Week 13 of 2018), 694 receiving yards, 77.1 receiving yards per game, 6 touchdowns, 15.1 yards per catch, 9 yards per target.
Both have the ability to post league-leading numbers in addition to both being complete game-changers when at the top of their game. While it’s been 395 days since we’ve seen Green play football and 437 days since he posted his last 100-plus yard receiving game, what Bengals fans have seen A.J. do in Cincinnati over his eight-year career is plenty convincing.
Going into the offseason, everyone in and around the organization is pretty aware that the team’s star running back will plan to hold out for a new contract before the final year of his rookie deal in 2020. Considering Mixon attempted a hold out before the 2019 season, it seems inevitable that the running back will match his colleagues’ tactics and try to push for a healthy pile of cash from the Cincinnati Bengals.
It’s not to say that Mixon will have a big drop in production, but typically players in his position group tend to start falling off around the age of 27.
Recent changes in football spending wisdom have pointed out the inefficiencies of signing running backs to a second contract, as the burn-out factor has frequently out-weighed the value of the deal. It’s not to say that Mixon will have a big drop in production, but typically players in his position group tend to start falling off around the age of 27.
Here’s what’s resulted for the bank accounts of other top running backs around the league who’ve held out for more money:
Ezekiel Elliot, Dallas Cowboys: Held out all of training camp, signed a six-year, $90 million ($28 million guaranteed) contract on Sept. 4, allowing him to rush ahead for 1,357 yards and 12 touchdowns on 4.5 yards-per-carry during the 2019 season.
Le’Veon Bell, New York Jets: Sat out for entire 2018 season with Pittsburgh Steelers, signed four-year, $52.5 million ($35 million guaranteed) with Jets in Summer 2019.
Melvin Gordon, LA Chargers: Skipped training camp, returned to Chargers in Week 5, finishing the season with 8 touchdowns and a career-low 612 yards on 3.8 yards per attempt.
As the NFL acts as something of a fraternity or perhaps a very specialized networking organization, Joe Mixon is certainly friends with a lot of the other top-flight running backs in the league who’ve recently held out for more cash. Considering Mixon ranks somewhere in the top three-to-five runners in the league, his contract seems more likely to resemble a lofty salary like Elliot’s deal from Dallas and less like the front-loaded deal Bell received from New York.
Green will be more of a specialized case; he’s the face of the franchise in a lot of ways and certainly has the healthiest jersey share of any player currently on the team.
Green will be more of a specialized case; he’s the face of the franchise in a lot of ways and certainly has the healthiest jersey share of any player currently on the team. Walking around the Paul Brown Stadium tailgate lots, you’ll find exponentially more #18 jerseys than #28, #14, or #85 (Ochocinco and Eifert) on the backs of fans.
Over the course of his time in Cincinnati, this fanbase has seen a lot more winning when Green is on the field than when he’s off; the Bengals are 66-48-1 with A.J. on the field and 7-21-1 when he doesn’t check into the game. He was also the best player on the team during their five-straight runs to the playoffs from 2011-2015. Making seven appearances in the Pro Bowl and being named to three Second-Team All-Pro squads, Green has been a talisman of greatness in his 111 starts at wide receiver in Cincinnati.
The Bengals are 66-48-1 with A.J. on the field and 7-21-1 when he doesn’t check into the game.
What’ll be interesting to monitor in A.J.’s contract negotiation will be his complete disgust at the concept of playing under the franchise tag. If the team does decide to tag the star wide receiver, it seems like that it would only be to drum up a trade asset so they don’t lose him without some sort of return. In a major market, Green would’ve likely been traded at the deadline for a few nice draft assets, but Cincinnati doesn’t operate with that sort of mindset.
Certainly, the organization has to consider the value of having both players around for the development of what’ll be April’s first-overall pick in the draft in LSU’s Joe Burrow. The incoming quarterback will strongly benefit from having a talented arsenal of receiving options during his first season in the NFL, as both Green and Mixon have the ability to lift great pressure off of their quarterback.
Willie Lutz is a former Loveland resident, a graduate of Loveland High School, and former sportswriter for Loveland Magazine
by Willie Lutz
Those who endured the 12-minute run from the Bengals, who looked lifeless in Miami, down 23 points on a day many at home hoped to be the final loss on one of the worst seasons of the last decade in Cincinnati, despite eight losses being within one possession.
After a 35-38 overtime loss at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, the Cincinnati Bengals secured the first overall pick in the 2020 draft, a pick that should bring a new franchise centerpiece, Joe Burrow. LSU’s Heisman-winning quarterback won the nation’s collective hearts with a dazzling senior season, finishing with 4,715 passing yards, 48 touchdowns, completed 77.9% of passes, and averaged 10.7 yards per attempt. With only 6 interceptions and without a loss on his Tigers’ resume, he represents the nation’s top seed in the College Football Playoff as the nation’s best player.
If the jungle kittens don’t win next Sunday…
If the jungle kittens don’t win next Sunday against Cleveland, they’ll have the worst record of any Bengals team ever, though a win would tie the team with the Jon Kitna-led 2002 team who finished 2-14. That finish put Cincinnati in place to draft Heisman winner Carson Palmer with the top pick in the 2003 NFL Draft.
Certainly, a narrative exists in which the Andy Dalton-led Cincinnati Bengals crush the messy Cleveland Browns in a fitting end to the 2019 season. It’ll likely be Dalton’s last game in a striped helmet and the Browns are about to wrap up one of the most embarrassing seasons of NFL football in recent memory. As we learned on Sunday against the Dolphins, Dalton is here to win; he passed for 396 yards, 4 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and completed 33-of-56 passes, nearly leading the team to the biggest comeback victory in team history.
It’ll likely be Dalton’s last game in a striped helmet and the Browns are about to wrap up one of the most embarrassing seasons of NFL football in recent memory.
Dalton will want to impress the potentially red-hot quarterback market, as many teams seem ready to move a different direction with their passers. Teams like the Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are among teams that may make a change at QB in the coming months. Potentially, Dalton could head to one of those teams in a favorable trade for the Bengals, as a move could net the team a second or third-round pick if Andy continues to impress against the Browns.
For Cincinnati, loss to Miami made a few things pretty clear; Joe Burrow is obviously the pick at the top of the draft and that this team needs to add more good players to the roster this offseason.
There is obviously bound to be plenty of pressure from a central Ohio-minded fanbase to go with Burrow’s teammate and practice opponent at Ohio State in DE Chase Young. There probably won’t be as much pressure to draft QB Tua Tagovailoa from Alabama, as the 21-year-old quarterback will enter the league with a cumbersome injury resume.
It’s amazing to hear so many college-aged people rave not about the player, but about the human being.
Having graduated from Ohio State in 2019 and thus meeting a handful of people who are friends or former classmates with Burrow, it’s amazing to hear so many college-aged people rave not about the player, but about the human being. What some knew before but many learned during his incredibly touching Heisman speech, Joe Burrow has the heart of a leader and the poise of a title fighter, essentially the intangibles you’d dream of in a franchise quarterback.
Before the season, I think like many people, I thought Dwyane Haskins had a higher upside and was probably a better player than Joe Burrow; it’s impossible for me to feel that way after everything I’ve seen from the senior passer’s closing season at LSU.
Burrow does everything you’d hope from a young quarterback all before NFL refinement.
Navigating the pocket like a pro and keeping his eyes on a level plane while reading the defense, Burrow does everything you’d hope from a young quarterback all before NFL refinement. In Cincinnati, he’ll have the chance to work with Zac Taylor and Brian Callahan, two coaches with backgrounds as quarterback coaches from their earlier days in the NFL (of course both are under 40, so those earlier days aren’t exactly ancient).
“New Dey” promise
When Cincinnati comes to the blatant conclusion that they’ll take Burrow at the top of the draft and set this franchise on a brand-new trajectory, it’ll finally deliver on the “New Dey” promise that became apart of the team’s marketing pitch following Zac Taylor’s hire. As many know by now, Burrow is an Ohio kid and a willing leader; he’s more personable than Palmer ever was and doesn’t bring any baggage to a lockerroom currently loaded with likable personalities.
If this team drifts from Joe Burrow, they’re making a mistake that the 6’3” passer will certainly find a way to make them regret in years down the road.
If this team drifts from Joe Burrow, they’re making a mistake that the 6’3” passer will certainly find a way to make them regret in years down the road. Sure, Ohio State when got lucky when Justin Fields decided to join the Buckeyes via transfer, filling the gap left by the Burrow departure in 2018, but even they might feel the brunt of that move if they advance to the National Championship game. In the NFL, Burrow will have the chance to make the Bengals pay once every four years, at the most minimal rate.
The pick seems obvious to this sports-watcher, draft Joe Burrow and call it a day; it’ll give your team one of the best chances in its history to construct a contending roster. However, like many others, I think this is all just preaching to a Bengals-based choir, one including Duke Tobin, Troy, and Katie Blackburn.
If this team drafts Joe Burrow with their first pick in next year’s draft, the trajectory of this franchise drastically changes
Willie Lutz is a former Loveland resident, graduate of Loveland High School, and former sports writer for Loveland Magazine
by Willie Lutz
The beginning of the Zac Taylor era in Cincinnati isn’t bringing the sweeping organizational changes some fans might’ve hoped when the team moved on from Marvin Lewis a little under a year ago. The team is off to a 1-13 start with their new head coach, they might lose the second-best player in franchise history after taking one snap in the team’s last 20 games, and they’re still probably not going to spend in free agency.
Further, they’ve got a lot of their cap tied into older players and don’t have a ton of obvious young talent on the roster to try to extend. Trusting Geno Atkins, Carlos Dunlap, and Shawn Williams to carry this team for the next decade isn’t going to cut it.
Key draft picks like tackle Cedric Ogbuehi, center Billy Price, and tackle Jake Fischer were trusted to be the future of this team’s line, only for the three to get benched over and over again, with Price trending towards the third in the group to be off the team before the decade flips. We won’t even get a chance to see this year’s 11th-overall pick Jonah Williams play a snap until 2020.
They’ve also had issues with buy-in, as veteran linebacker Preston Brown gained weight throughout the season, eventually getting cut from the team, and starting left tackle Cordy Glenn pretended to be so injured that he couldn’t play, only to be called on his bluff by line coach Jim Turner who eventually found a way to put Glenn on notice with a one-game suspensions.
All of that and I can still say, in the words of Dave Lapham, it’s a great day to be a Bengals fan.
Some of the ugliness of the first few weeks was mitigated and the football started to get more watchable (for lack of a better term).
The sky was falling in Cincinnati through the first eleven games of the season. After the team took its trip to London, did some bye week soul searching, and revaluated what they wanted to do with their offense, some of the ugliness of the first few weeks was mitigated and the football started to get more watchable (for lack of a better term). After clearing the hurdle with their first win of the season by taking the top off a rocky New York Jets squad, this team played a better four quarters of football than the Cleveland Browns when they visited First Energy Stadium two Sundays ago, when the men in stripes took a 19-27 loss in the battle of Ohio, a game where Andy Dalton certainly outplayed Baker Mayfield.
Around the trade deadline, players lamented the thought of any of their teammates heading to other destinations almost as much as their own departures.
Right now, I much rather be the Cincinnati Bengals than the Cleveland Browns, if for no other reason than culture alone. The Bengals’ locker room raves about the internal communication, something that was incredibly important in Zac Taylor’s initial statements about the job. Around the trade deadline, players lamented the thought of any of their teammates heading to other destinations almost as much as their own departures.
Trust me, if you’re the Bengals, you’d rather lose that game by 8 than be on the same boat as the Browns, who are drowning under their own ego clashes after coming into the year with mixed playoff and somehow Super Bowl expectations. No one thought the Bengals would be good, but at least this team doesn’t have a star player asking other quarterbacks to lineup a trade for their talents after games.
When Andy Dalton was benched, the team rallied around Ryan Finley. When Andy Dalton was renamed the starter, the team rallied around Andy with excitement you wouldn’t expect from a winless team who ranked 32nd in the league in just about every statistical category.
Not to mention, this team is really starting to play some good football. Not without their stupid mistakes, of course, but the combination of Joe Mixon getting going in the rushing game and the defense starting to kick some tail, they’ve become a pretty tough team to beat over the last five weeks.
If this team drafts Joe Burrow with their first pick in next year’s draft, the trajectory of this franchise drastically changes.
If this team drafts Joe Burrow with their first pick in next year’s draft, the trajectory of this franchise drastically changes.
In sports, there is no worse place to be than in the middle. That’s why the Miami Dolphins are bottoming out, that’s why the Philadelphia 76ers did the process, it’s why the Baltimore Ravens took Lamar Jackson in 2018. You can choose to be average or you can choose to be extraordinary, but extraordinary is always going to take more work. Eventually, franchises are forced to take a hard look in the mirror and decide what they want to be; usually, the answer is a title contender.
Could the Bengals have gone to Zac Taylor and given him a playoff-level roster headed into week one? Sure, but then all you’re doing is betting on Andy Dalton to take you into January, which has resulted in the same thing over and over again, a playoff loss.
Bottoming out for one season to take a franchise-changing player is a tried and true formula, even with varying results.
Bottoming out for one season to take a franchise-changing player is a tried and true formula, even with varying results. While teams are increasingly striking gold atop the draft, there’s still a Ryan Leaf for every Peyton Manning.
However, with what we’ve seen from LSU quarterback Joe Burrow this year, it looks closer to the latter than the former. If Burrow is the next quarterback of the Bengals, he should be thrilled for the opportunity to succeed in Cincinnati. On top, his coach will be Zac Taylor, who spent a large portion of the beginning of his career, including with the 2018 NFC Champion Los Angeles Rams, as a quarterback coach. Further, in the Bengals locker room, there’s a lot of interesting young talent teams around the league would clamor over, even if that’s not resulting in wins at the moment.
Whatever passer winds up in the Bengals backfield next season is going to be in a situation to succeed.
In his first year in Cincinnati, Burrow (or any quarterback the team drafts) will have incredible weapons like John Ross (who’s made a significant leap in limited year-three reps), Tyler Boyd, A.J. Green (we assume), Auden Tate (another guy who made a leap), and Joe Mixon coming out of the backfield.
Clearly heading towards a quarterback selection in the 2020 NFL Draft after Ryan Finley showed as an incapable starting option, whatever passer winds up in the Bengals backfield next season is going to be in a situation to succeed.
Frontman for the Zeros Willie Lutz. The band will have their first show in Cincinnati on Saturday
While Sun Parade may be on tour, the three local bands include a slew of Loveland High School graduates.
By: Nick Francis
Three local bands, The Zeroes, Watchfrogs, and Watchfrogs will join Sun Parade (Boston, MA) for a Friday night show at historic Clifton music venue, the Mad Frog. While Sun Parade may be on tour, the three local bands include a slew of Loveland High School graduates.
The Watchfrogs
The Watchfrogs have become staples of the Cincinnati music scene since their inception three years ago. Playing regular shows at Quincy’s Pub in Mt. Adams, the trio is known for extended jams and catchy, alternative rock originals, including songs from their 2017 release, The Funky Finger EP.
Drew Lowry, also known for his leading role in Nashville band, Saint Bernard, will be joined by his brother Dean and DK Dews (of See You in the Funnies & Pocket).
Based out of Athens, OH, Pocket will make the voyage East to join the ticket on Friday night, playing a range of songs with plenty from their 2017 album, The Things You Think At Night. The band is fronted by songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Ryan Mangan, flanked by bassist Amanda Eldridge, in addition to Drew Lowry on guitar and Dews on drums.
For the Zeroes, it will be frontman (and former Loveland Magazine writing intern) Willie Lutz’s first show in Cincinnati with the new group, made up of drummer Jon Largent, bassist Anson Bryant, and guitarist Daniel Arnaut. All four students are Ohio State students, meeting through mutual friends at another performance.
Currently, the Zeroes are preparing music for an EP, which is due out this summer with Lowry (of the Watchfrogs) handling the production duty. There’s also rumor that Largent will eat ten Hot Pockets on stage if more than 50 people arrive by the time the Zeroes start, but you’ll just have to be there to see if it happens.
Meanwhile, for Sun Parade, this is just the first stop of a twelve-date tour around the Eastern United States. The self-described “power-pop” group will stop at the Mad Frog before heading to Chicago, IL on Saturday to play Ribfest. They’ll be playing tunes from their 2017 album as well, Shuggy Mtn Breakdown.
DOORS: 8:00 PM
SHOW: 8:30 PM
COST: $5
LOCATION: The Mad Frog, 1 E McMillin Street, Cincinnati, OH 45219
Based out of Athens, OH, Pocket will make the voyage East to join the ticket on Friday night, playing a range of songs with plenty from their 2017 album, The Things You Think At Night. The band is fronted by songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist Ryan Mangan, flanked by bassist Amanda Eldridge, in addition to Drew Lowry on guitar and Dews on drums.