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Paul Alexander...The Most Important Man in PBS


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Being that most college teams run a spread offense in which OT's aren't asked to pass protect for longer than 2 seconds and they throw the ball 40-50 times a game, the average OL player coming out of college isn't very well versed in the finer points of how to play in a pro style offense. It's no coincidence that the top 2 OT's in the draft are guys that come from programs that run a pro style offense(Wisconsin & Alabama). 

With the Bengals deciding to let proven vets like Whitworth and Zeitler leave via FA, they are going with many unproven players along the offensive line. Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fischer are going to be the LT  & RT of the future, while Andre "TittiBoi" Smith will be the starting RG.

 

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“I’ve never played the position. Everything is new,” Smith said. “But I feel like I’m a good enough player and I have enough faith in myself that I can do anything I put my mind to. Paul’s a really good coach and he’s going to coach me up well.

“I haven’t played there in ages. But I know I’ll put the effort and the work in and it’s going to pay off.”

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Andre-offers-giant-flexibility-as-Bengals-go-on-guard/069c756e-922a-47e8-8909-a3849a7e9904


 

This season will highlight or expose Paul Alexander's ability to get inexperienced but "talented" players ready to perform at a high level in the NFL. Fischer and Ogbuehi are going to be the starting OT's even though both guys struggled mightily last season when they got extended playing time. I believe this to be risky strategy and based on the performances of both players last year I don't have high hopes. opefully Alexander can prove me wrong and turn these guys into legit starters, while continuing to develop Bodine, and teaching Smith how to play RG. 

In the future I think the majority of OL prospects will be guys who play in a spread system and will need to be coached up by their OL coach on the proper technique it takes to play OL in the NFL. A team with a OL coach that help guys make that transition smoothly will be a valuable asset to their organization and a coveted commodity across the NFL.

Is Alexander one of those guys? Can he turn potential into production? I'm not sure, but I do know he is definitely in the spotlight this season with the decisions that have been by Brown and Tobin regarding player personnel, so they obviously think he's up for the task. 

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What applies in rest of NFL doesnt necessarily apply here... The drafting of Ced and Fisher are as much on him as they are Tobin, Marv and MB. As a position coach of the Bengals his input is highly sought in draft process and it was he who pushed heavily for Ced. So he bears the full burden of developing those guys, he put himself in that spotlight. The success of those two are on him and him alone. I hope he is a much better coach than I give him credit for. 

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I feel ok about Fisher, especially playing next to Andre who can teach him the ins and outs of the position he was playing, I know Fisher struggled at times but I didn't think he was bad all together.

 

Ced O scares the hell out of me.

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2 hours ago, ickeybrooks said:

What applies in rest of NFL doesnt necessarily apply here...

 

I thought you were going to say something about accountability and the lack thereof, but what you wrote is good too I guess

 

:ninja:

 

Zero faith in Assistant Head Coach Paul Alexander, if that needed saying.

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For years we have been told that Alexander is one of the best in the NFL, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.  This year will be his toughest test.  He has defended his guys in the past, including Bodine and Ced.  If they fail (or continue to fail), the finger should be pointed directly at Paul.  Either these guys aren't good enough or he failed to make them better.  Needless to say, I am not terribly optimistic.  

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2 hours ago, SocalBengalEd said:

Zero playoffs wins in 26 years.  We should probably try something different I'm just saying.  Starting with the coaches. 

 

Kind of becoming a broken record with that "no playoff wins" mantra. Everything they do is no playoff wins. Geno Atkins & AJ Green don't have any playoff wins either, guess they need to go, right? Same uniforms and team name, zero playoff wins in 26 years - lose the stripes for a more citrus-y orange, change the team to Cincinnati Persimmons.  Wait, no playoff wins in Cincinnati in 26 years? They should probably move the team to Omaha.

 

Hold up - have you been watching the team not win a playoff game in 26 years? Maybe that's the problem. I mean, no playoff wins in 26 years after all!  Not letting hobos piss on the field? 26 years blahblah you get the point.

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1 hour ago, T-Dub said:

 

Kind of becoming a broken record with that "no playoff wins" mantra. Everything they do is no playoff wins. Geno Atkins & AJ Green don't have any playoff wins either, guess they need to go, right? Same uniforms and team name, zero playoff wins in 26 years - lose the stripes for a more citrus-y orange, change the team to Cincinnati Persimmons.  Wait, no playoff wins in Cincinnati in 26 years? They should probably move the team to Omaha.

 

Hold up - have you been watching the team not win a playoff game in 26 years? Maybe that's the problem. I mean, no playoff wins in 26 years after all!  Not letting hobos piss on the field? 26 years blahblah you get the point.

You sound like a D- bag. Just saying.

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Ugh...When I think of the turds this guy has polished it makes me shiver.  Bodine.....he's working hard to not be the worst center in the league.  When was the last time the Bengals had an average or better center?  A decade ago?  

Over the past two years the talent drain on this team has been significant.  Depending on this guy to make chicken salad out of chicken shit is not encouraging given his track record.

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4 hours ago, T-Dub said:

 

Kind of becoming a broken record with that "no playoff wins" mantra. Everything they do is no playoff wins. Geno Atkins & AJ Green don't have any playoff wins either, guess they need to go, right? Same uniforms and team name, zero playoff wins in 26 years - lose the stripes for a more citrus-y orange, change the team to Cincinnati Persimmons.  Wait, no playoff wins in Cincinnati in 26 years? They should probably move the team to Omaha.

 

Hold up - have you been watching the team not win a playoff game in 26 years? Maybe that's the problem. I mean, no playoff wins in 26 years after all!  Not letting hobos piss on the field? 26 years blahblah you get the point.

I hate this argument. In the NFL the coaches are the ones held accountable for the success or lack thereof of the team, because their actions with practices, playcalling, adjustments, gametime decisions, etc all reflect how their players respond to them. On any other team, there'd have been a coaching clearing house long ago. But not the Bengals, because their coaches are a reflection of their owner...stubborn, old fashioned, overly loyal and certainly not receptive to the ever-changing nature of the NFL.

I have to believe that at least in part, bleeding FA's has something to do with "the Bengal Way" and not solely about money. Marvin Lewis has proven time and again his inability to put the team in the best position to win a playoff game. Or when he's on the cusp of doing so, he loses control of the team (Pittsburgh) or suddenly deviates from what was working and goes all Marty Schottenheimer (San Diego game). And let's not even get into a lack of halftime adjustments, poor clock management, stupid challenges and all that other stuff.

He's now a lame duck coach and I don't think the players really hear or respond to him anymore.

 

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6 hours ago, T-Dub said:

 

Kind of becoming a broken record with that "no playoff wins" mantra. Everything they do is no playoff wins. Geno Atkins & AJ Green don't have any playoff wins either, guess they need to go, right? Same uniforms and team name, zero playoff wins in 26 years - lose the stripes for a more citrus-y orange, change the team to Cincinnati Persimmons.  Wait, no playoff wins in Cincinnati in 26 years? They should probably move the team to Omaha.

 

Hold up - have you been watching the team not win a playoff game in 26 years? Maybe that's the problem. I mean, no playoff wins in 26 years after all!  Not letting hobos piss on the field? 26 years blahblah you get the point.

I agree with this to an extent, you can't just blame everything you feel like on "no playoff wins" because as you said, we have a lot of GOOD surrounding the team without playoff wins as well.

However, Paul Alexander has been here for almost the entirety of the drought, and it's not like we've been losing despite Alexander's great success. I know you don't trust the guy to develop players very well either, so I don't have to convince you that he's an issue. I just think the "no playoff wins in 26 years" is fair to use at times, especially when the topic is a mediocre position coach that's been here for over 23 of those years.

Maybe a better way of approaching it would be that Paul Alexander hasn't produced a top 10 rushing (YPC) line more than 1 time since 2005 yet we insist on being a run first team.

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2 hours ago, Bunghole said:

I hate this argument. In the NFL the coaches are the ones held accountable for the success or lack thereof of the team, because their actions with practices, playcalling, adjustments, gametime decisions, etc all reflect how their players respond to them. On any other team, there'd have been a coaching clearing house long ago. But not the Bengals, because their coaches are a reflection of their owner...stubborn, old fashioned, overly loyal and certainly not receptive to the ever-changing nature of the NFL.

I have to believe that at least in part, bleeding FA's has something to do with "the Bengal Way" and not solely about money. Marvin Lewis has proven time and again his inability to put the team in the best position to win a playoff game. Or when he's on the cusp of doing so, he loses control of the team (Pittsburgh) or suddenly deviates from what was working and goes all Marty Schottenheimer (San Diego game). And let's not even get into a lack of halftime adjustments, poor clock management, stupid challenges and all that other stuff.

He's now a lame duck coach and I don't think the players really hear or respond to him anymore.

 

I think this is going to be the biggest issue with the season, players like Dalton, Green, and now Dunlap that are are cornerstones of the franchise and under contract for multiple years have openly questioned the direction of the team this offseason and voiced some level of frustration. 

Quote

“Whit is playing out his mind and we need that guy back,” Green said of the 35-year-old left tackle and free agent-to-be. “One guy we can’t lose is Whit. He brings so much more to the table than just his playing. His leadership and the way you carry yourself. I hope we bring him back.”

http://www.cincyjungle.com/2017/2/4/14500280/a-j-green-and-andy-dalton-hoping-for-different-offseason-moves-from-bengals

The teams best players are openly questioning the direction of the team and it's coach is a lame duck, Marvin is going to need a hell of t-shirt slogan this summer in order to stave off a mutiny. 

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17 minutes ago, PatternMaster said:

I think this is going to be the biggest issue with the season, players like Dalton, Green, and now Dunlap that are are cornerstones of the franchise and under contract for multiple years have openly questioned the direction of the team this offseason and voiced some level of frustration. 

The teams best players are openly questioning the direction of the team and it's coach is a lame duck, Marvin is going to need a hell of t-shirt slogan this summer in order to stave off a mutiny. 

What? ...they forgot to tell you?

This years T-shirt is:

Just do it, ...and shut up

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Just now, PatternMaster said:

yeah I don't know if that is going to go over well if guys like Pacman and Burfict, you know Marvin's special needs pet projects. 

At least Marvin's projects can play the game, ...unlike Alexander's project players.

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1 minute ago, Jeb said:

At least Marvin's projects can play the game, ...unlike Alexander's project players.

Yep we've done very well with reclamation projects over the years but our draft projects have been a disaster.

To be fair, I'm sure the league wide success rate for "project" type players isn't very high in general, but have we hit on ANY of them that we've taken in the 3rd round or higher lately? Not just PA guys, but Hunt and the defensive side guys as well.

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1 minute ago, omgdrdoom said:

Yep we've done very well with reclamation projects over the years but our draft projects have been a disaster.

To be fair, I'm sure the league wide success rate for "project" type players isn't very high in general, but have we hit on ANY of them that we've taken in the 3rd round or higher lately? Not just PA guys, but Hunt and the defensive side guys as well.

We do seem to be going down the wrong path.

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I don't believe anyone here would question that both Ced and Fisher were two of the top tackles in that draft. Certainly other teams would have selected them with premium picks if the Bengals had not, true?

And I always remember, it is the same PA who coached Willie, Levi, Richie, Steinbach, and yes...even the sainted Whitworth. His peers in coaching have given him acclaim, as have most of his past/present players. The patron saint of offensive line coaches, (in the minds of most Bengal fans) Jim McNally, has praised him. PA was a disciple of McNally. 

There are always swings and misses on players. But I choose to think that a proven quality NFL coach can do good things with two of the people he chose. Maybe it is a swing and miss, maybe it leaves the yard (love baseball allegory). 

Sorry, should have included something about 26 years no playoff wins. Will get it next time. ?

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Maybe we could collectively come up with some clever t-shirt slogans and send them to the PBS suggestion box.

"Win me a playoff game or you're stuck with me for two more years"

"All that wood you chopped is rotting in Mike Brown's backyard under a tarp"

"Just be better than the Browns"

 

Something...

 

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3 hours ago, Le Tigre said:

I don't believe anyone here would question that both Ced and Fisher were two of the top tackles in that draft. Certainly other teams would have selected them with premium picks if the Bengals had not, true?

And I always remember, it is the same PA who coached Willie, Levi, Richie, Steinbach, and yes...even the sainted Whitworth. His peers in coaching have given him acclaim, as have most of his past/present players. The patron saint of offensive line coaches, (in the minds of most Bengal fans) Jim McNally, has praised him. PA was a disciple of McNally. 

There are always swings and misses on players. But I choose to think that a proven quality NFL coach can do good things with two of the people he chose. Maybe it is a swing and miss, maybe it leaves the yard (love baseball allegory). 

Sorry, should have included something about 26 years no playoff wins. Will get it next time. ?

PA does seem to be respected by the rest of the NFL and I hope he has the best professional year of his life this season. His ability to turn potential into production will be the difference between failure and success for the 2017-18 Bengals.

He's either going to be the hero or the goat. 

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3 minutes ago, PatternMaster said:

PA does seem to be respected by the rest of the NFL and I hope he has the best professional year of his life this season. His ability to turn potential into production will be the difference between failure and success for the 2017-18 Bengals.

He's either going to be the hero or the goat. 

Either way he keeps his job...

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