Did Bengals' offseason reflect stagnant, 'status quo' approach?

[Arkansas Bengal]

Did Bengals' offseason reflect stagnant, 'status quo' approach?

 

CINCINNATI -- Did the Cincinnati Bengals spend this offseason tooling up for this year or next?

That has been one of the more intense debates among the Bengals' fan base the last few months, particularly after coach Marvin Lewis vowed in late January that this would not be a "status quo" offseason for the organization. He said team president Mike Brown was tired of losing in the first round of the playoffs and had given the franchise carte blanche to make whatever personnel moves would get the team one or more postseason wins.

But the question is, did the Bengals improve themselves via free agency and the draft?  Overwhelmingly, a panel of ESPN Insiders doesn't think so.

In his compilation of offseason grades that was published Wednesday, Mike Sando questioned fellow Insiders Field Yates, Matt Williamson, Bill Polian and Louis Riddick about how individual teams helped or hurt their teams the last five months.

Only Polian believed the Bengals did well.

"Everything fell right into place," Polian said, referring primarily to how Cincinnati was able to woo defensive end Michael Johnson back in free agency. The Bengals received a compensation pick in this year's draft in exchange for originally losing Johnson as a free agent last year. Polian praised that.

He was right to. The Bengals did have a quietly good offseason; one that deserved a slightly better grade than the C-plus they received from the Insider panel.

Pieces of the other Insiders' arguments were plausible, but it really is hard to call it a stagnant offseason when the Bengals got rid of a star player whose fractious attitude they disliked, and veterans whose departures finally allow opportunities for rising young players such as Dre Kirkpatrick and Darqueze Dennard.

Williamson commented that the Bengals keep getting praised like they are "loaded and building with guys for tomorrow." He felt the praise was wrong, and that it was a mistake for Cincinnati to add little, particularly through the draft where Cincinnati took offensive tackles with its first two picks.

The thing is, the Bengals are pretty loaded in key areas. They bring back their entire offensive line, one that likely will be broken up next spring. They also have a four-time Pro Bowler at receiver (A.J. Green), and are getting back healthy another receiver (Marvin Jones) who missed all of 2014 after catching more than 10 touchdown passes in 2013. Then there's the second-year running back (Jeremy Hill) who closed out the regular season having the most rushing yards of any NFL player in the final nine weeks.

Johnson's return gives a defense that was in transition a year ago and that dealt with a slew of untimely injuries a much-needed jolt. No, the unit isn't full of J.J. Watts or Darrelle Revises or Luke Kuechlys, but remember, it's a group that two years ago was part of the No. 3 defense in the league. Many of the players who were on that defense are still on this one.

Riddick put it best when he said the players the Bengals have simply "have to play better." If the old Bengals guard can do that along with the complementary pieces that were added and the players who were re-signed, that ever-elusive postseason win ought to come.

So, was it a "status quo" offseason? The usual, relatively low number of free-agency signings indicate as much. The more important question, though, is will this Bengals offseason produce status quo results?

That question can't be answered until the playoffs begin next January.

 

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/17271/bengals-offseason-grades-status-quo-stagnant-approach-grade

[membengal]

They put the status in quo.

[HairOnFire]

Bringing MJ back was the saddest day of the offseason IMHO yet it's the one move the Bengals receive the most praise for.

 

And turning down a rare chance to move down in the 1st round and pick up extra draft picks screams of a draft strategy that was predetermined, rigid, and unimaginative.

 

Getting MJ back won't fix what was broken and drafting a broken player to eventually replace Whit created a problem where none had existed before.

 

Plus, replacing shitty Jermaine Gresham isn't a sign your offseason hasn't been stagnant. 

 

Rather, it's just the predictable conclusion to a horrific draft story that took far too many years to play out.  

 

Bottom Line, the Bengals were lucky to receive a bouncey C+ grade from so-called Insiders.

[|SF2|]

Bringing MJ back was the saddest day of the offseason IMHO yet it's the one move the Bengals receive the most praise for.

 

And turning down a rare chance to move down in the 1st round and pick up extra draft picks screams of a draft strategy that was predetermined, rigid, and unimaginative.

 

Getting MJ back won't fix what was broken and drafting a broken player to eventually replace Whit created a problem where none had existed before.

 

Plus, replacing shitty Jermaine Gresham isn't a sign your offseason hasn't been stagnant. 

 

Rather, it's just the predictable conclusion to a horrific draft story that took far too many years to play out.  

 

Bottom Line, the Bengals were lucky to receive a bouncey C+ grade from so-called Insiders.

It obviously depends on what you think the draft is for.

 

If your goal is long term or rebuilding, this would be an high B low A draft.

 

If your goal is finding the last few pieces to make a deep playoff run this year, it is hard to be happy about our FA and Draft strategy.

 

I certainly would like to watch the Bengals go on a playoff run with my soon to be Junior in High School son who has never seen the Bengals win a playoff game.  It makes my stomach turn to see Seattle, Pittspuke and Colts jersies together equal the number of Bengals unis kids in his high school wear.   Springboro Ohio. should be 95% Bengals not 50.  I am in your camp, it wasn't a great 2 months as far as I am concerned.

[sparky151]

The Bengals ignored some obvious issues. Expecting double digit sacks from MJ is just wishful thinking so we still haven't done enough to upgrade our pass rush. Peko still gets pushed around though Pat Sims will beef up that spot. Lamur and Maualuga should have been replaced with upgrades but we brought both back. Dawson can only replace 1 of them. Once we extended Boling our only O-line need is an heir to Whitworth but that's not a top priority. We need a second TE and WR3 more. Not to mention Dalton should have competition for his job.

 

Things we did right: letting Newman, Geathers, and Gresham go. The draft was good after round 2. 

 

Things we did wrong: extending Maualuga and frontloading it, reassuring Dalton with no veteran competition, expecting MJ to fix the pass rush.

 

What I would have done: sign Greg Hardy, Terence Knighton, and Brandon Spikes. Add a veteran CB like Patrick Robinson or Shareece Wright to replace Hall as CB4. Dump Hall and Peko. Use the 1st, 2nd, and 7th round picks on Malcom Brown, Tyler Lockett, and Lael Collins. Put Dalton on a short leash with a better backup QB, someone like McCoy or Fitzpatrick. If Philip Rivers was on the trade block, explore that option. 

[Dautcom08]

My only gripes are the Fairley situation and not restructuring Hall/Peko.

[Jason]

The last time Geno Atkins and MJ played a full season together, both had double digit sacks.

[alleycat]

The last time Geno Atkins and MJ played a full season together, both had double digit sacks.

And sadly the pass rush was still largely ineffective, especially in crunch time.

[Jamie_B]

After they came out saying they were going to do some things different, the fact that they didn't was pretty disappointing but not at all surprising.

[Randle P McMurphy]

Not getting Fairley or Knighton was kind of disappointing.  Not restructuring Hall and Peko

was kind of dumb imo.  Especially Hall.  For that matter, I wouldn't have been terribly disappointed

if they both got cut to be honest.  Roll with Jones, Kirkpatrick, Dennard and add Shaw to the mix.

Possibly a cheaper vet CB.  Yeah, that would have been a lot of "youth" at the CB position but

what the hell?  

 

Sims is a nice piece to the rotation but at this point, I'm not entirely convinced he's an upgrade

over Peko either, not that he'll be starting over Peko anyways.

 

A.J. Hawk was a decent signing for depth but if Burfict has to start the season on the PUP list,

(unless Dawson can keep him on the bench) Hawk may be a liability out there, at least in pass coverage.

 

Time will tell I guess. 

[Big Alice]

Sims is a nice piece to the rotation but at this point, I'm not entirely convinced he's an upgrade
over Peko either 

Maybe. Maybe not. One thing IS certain, though. Pay Sims can't NOT be an upgrade over Devon Still.

I've said it before... Leon Hall isn't out of the woods yet. Making the final 53 for him is 50/50 at best. If he's not CLEARLY one of the best four corners in camp, it's hard to imagine he'll make the team.

Since the Bengals ultimately decided not to bring in a Nick Fariley-type free agent, there was no value in releasing Leon Hall. As camp approaches, they'll do an extension or two. Once camp starts and they see what Josh saw can do and the injury situation becomes apparent, Leon Hall's contract will become a bigger and bigger deal.

Peko? Come hell or high water, he'll be there. He's relatively cheap and holds a more prominent leadership role. He'll make the opening day roster. You can write that down.