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Move Rivers to middle backup?


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Since Rivers is looking more and more like he is going to miss all of camp and won't start early now and Branden Johnson Tearing it up so far including tonight's scrimmage. What about letting Johnson remain the starter on the weak side and let rivers develop to become the starter in the middle (he's a natural leader) later in the season. Johnson - Rivers - Brooks going into playoffs sounds solid to me. What do you think?
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Nope keep rivers at WILL.Make him the back up if he holds out more. Make brooks the back up MLB. On passing downs the 3 LBs are Brandon/Rivers(Will) Brooks(MLB) blackstock(SLB). Will LB in TE coverage and either one of Brooks shootin up the middle or Blackstock from SLB. We can blitz vice versa but my hinch Brooks up the middle blowing up the center :thumbsup:

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The MLB is the QB of the defense and he is not there to learn --------- so --------- I do not think that would be a good move unless you are saying to let him sit or be a role player for 08. I don't like that idea much either.

How does anyone know he will be a leader in the NFL? He is nothing more than a green, talented rookie that is unsigned and not on the field at this point.
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All I'm sayin is Johnson isn't looking just a little good he is clearly playing outstanding linebacker right now. Some have called him the MVP of camp this year, so I think it would be smart to play this guy as much as possible.
He is young and is only going to improve and needs to start at either the wlb or mlb positions.

Jones is smart and has a good motor to be ok at the mlb spot but will never really improve much more than how he is now because he is starting to get past his prime in age.

Rivers may end up becoming our best LB, but this year he may not be able to catch up because of missing camp and if he does start at some point I would rather he move ahead of Jones instead of Johnson.

Another option is to move Johnson to mlb now so he gets reps and move jones back to wlb. This will allow rivers to move ahead of jones at wlb when he is ready.

As far as Rivers becoming a leader of our defense it's true there's no guarantee, but he was a leader at USC and when you talk to him he comes across as one so the odds are good in time.

The bottom line is even though it's early it sure looks like we would be better with Johnson and Rivers on the field at the same time. I want a top 15 "D"!!!
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[quote name='Diehardbengalfan' post='683950' date='Aug 3 2008, 02:06 PM']All I'm sayin is Johnson isn't looking just a little good he is clearly playing outstanding linebacker right now. Some have called him the MVP of camp this year, so I think it would be smart to play this guy as much as possible.
He is young and is only going to improve and needs to start at either the wlb or mlb positions.

Jones is smart and has a good motor to be ok at the mlb spot but will never really improve much more than how he is now because he is starting to get past his prime in age.

Rivers may end up becoming our best LB, but this year he may not be able to catch up because of missing camp and if he does start at some point I would rather he move ahead of Jones instead of Johnson.

Another option is to move Johnson to mlb now so he gets reps and move jones back to wlb. This will allow rivers to move ahead of jones at wlb when he is ready.

As far as Rivers becoming a leader of our defense it's true there's no guarantee, but he was a leader at USC and when you talk to him he comes across as one so the odds are good in time.

The bottom line is even though it's early it sure looks like we would be better with Johnson and Rivers on the field at the same time. I want a top 15 "D"!!![/quote]


why would you move Johnson to MLB, where he's never played to my knowledge? Also, while Johnson has certainly been impressive so far, it hasn't been against real competition.
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Don't get too overly excited by Johnson's play. I'm glad to hear he's looking good, but Zim or Fitz (don't remember who) has stated that the D is set up to allow the WLB to become the playmaker. Yes, we finally have a DC who is playing to the strengths of his personnel, Rivers being the most talented LB physically, that the team has. Only thing is, with Rivers (and his added athletic ability) not currently in camp, Johnson is making those plays at the moment.

So yes, while Johnson is making plays in Rivers' absence, he still is not our best option at that position. He is simply proving able to do the job when Rivers is not in the lineup. I don't mean to be knocking what he's doing - I'm just trying to add a little perspective. The D is set up for him to make plays, and he's doing it. Good. But that doesn't mean he should be the starter.

Of course, at this rate, Johnson might end up taking the starting job by default. <_<

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Source: Bengals 'far apart' on contract with draft pick Rivers

By James Walker
ESPN.com
(Archive)

Updated: August 3, 2008, 5:18 PM ET



The Cincinnati Bengals and first-round pick Keith Rivers are still "far apart" in contract negotiations, a source told ESPN.com Sunday. Rivers, the No. 9 overall pick in April's NFL draft, has missed the entire first week of training camp with Cincinnati.

Keith Rivers

Rivers
The two sides remain in constant negotiations. The source added that talks could improve dramatically at any time, but as of Sunday afternoon the team was not close to striking a deal with Rivers.

Jacksonville Jaguars rookie linebacker Derrick Harvey, the No. 8 pick, and Rivers remain the only unsigned first-rounders. Jacksonville's inability to sign its top pick one spot ahead of Cincinnati also is slowing negotiations with Rivers, the source said.

Rivers is the favorite to win a starting job at outside linebacker for Cincinnati and is considered one of the most NFL-ready players in the draft. Depending on how long the holdout continues, he will have to make up a lot of ground once he arrives.

"A lot of this stuff we've already gone over, so he's heard it once through the minicamp," Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer told ESPN.com last week. "But now is when it's starting to get critical for him, because it's all starting to come together. Even if he came out tomorrow, he's got to learn [multiple] days of install in one day. So he's way behind the eight ball now. It's going to be tough."

Third-year linebacker Brandon Johnson currently is getting reps with the first team at outside linebacker, but he is not considered the long-term solution. Cincinnati finished last season ranked No. 27 in overall defense last season, prompting the Bengals to select Rivers as their future cornerstone on defense.

James Walker covers the NFL for ESPN.com.
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The AFC North is a smash-mouth, grind it up between the tackles division.

The Bengals have a long history of being soft between the tackles. We get killed by our opponents running game. We all know it and that's why we all screamed for a monster DT in free agency this season. When we didn't get one then we settled for a rookie to do the job and like always, ...we'll be patient. Man, we are a patient bunch of fans.

In the mean time, we have a formula that works for us. We know how to shut down the run between the tackles. It takes a monster LB in the middle to do it. It worked. We shut down the run between the tackles and proved the formula.

Ahmad Brooks is the answer at MLB. He is a natural for that position and dominates the line but don't take my word for it:

[url="http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/CINCINNATI-OH/WCKY-AM/LANCE919HR3.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=CINCINNATI-OH&NG_FORMAT=sports&SITE_ID=1120&STATION_ID=WCKY-AM&PCAST_AUTHOR=1530_Homer&PCAST_CAT=Sports_Talk_Radio&PCAST_TITLE=Lance_McAlister_On_Demand"]http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/...ister_On_Demand[/url]

Keep in mind if we let Brooks go then he will be picked up by another AFC North rival. He's a natural for the AFC North. He belongs here. He belongs a Bengal and a middle linebacker!

Henderson is healthy now and would make a great backup for Brooks in case Brooks goes down again in that formula's scheme.
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