sparky151

The son doesn't work for the Falcons and the tablet was at Ulbrich's house. The fine was the NFL trying to squash the story before it moved to why did Ulbrich get the number in the first place. Ulbrich's son was on a social media video of his call. Other players got called at the number they'd had for a while so the assumption is the caller was a friend or someone connected to a friend who already had their number. Sanders had gotten a new phone just for the draft.

Yeah, our LBs don't charge into the gap and blow guys up. Lou played nickel as his base defense and the 2 LBs were both pass defenders first. Neither Pratt nor Wilson were good pass rushing LBs who could blitz undexpectedly. If they lined up to simulate one of Zimmer's double A-gap blitzes, everyone knew there was no chance both were firing and probably both were dropping out. One of my concerns about Barrett Carter is the bit in his pre-draft writeup about becoming velcroed to blockers. He's fine if he can just run to the play but apparently can't shed blockers. I don't think Wilson was ever at a pro bowl level like Fred Warner or Roquan Smith. He is good in pass defense in zone coverage.

We don't have a shutdown CB1. Last year we passed on Mitchell, who I liked a lot for Mims, who I also liked. This year we passed on Ben Morrison in round 2 for Knight. Either his medicals scared them off or Golden passed on Morrison (and Watts). Normally LB has lower positional value than CB or FS.

Yep, agreed that Price had little upside. He was intended to be serviceable and not a liability in the middle of the line. But he failed at that and at least we got a serviceable player in Hill when we traded him. It's poor process to draft simply on traits. That's how teams take Ryan Leaf at #2 overall. Stewart might work out but the pick comes with a lot of risk. This roster isn't so solid that we can afford risks in the middle of round 1. I like Mims as a prospect but the Hill and Murphy picks before him are underwhelming thus far. So are guys we traded up for like CTB and Tycen Anderson. If someone is worth a tradeup, you'd hope that after 3 years, they are a solid, established starter. Neither of those guys are.

Huh? In what universe was Billy Price the "safe" pick in round 1? He had plenty of detractors, who turned out to be right.

Calling someone once to needle them isn't a crime. The league sent the list of player phone numbers to hundreds of people who had no need for it. Ulbrich is the Falcon's DC and doesn't call prospects when they are drafted. So it's not surprising that quite a few players got similar prank calls or multiple prank calls. It's just that for some mysterious reason we've heard a lot more about the call to Sanders than the multiple calls to Kyle McCord.

https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/news/nfl-draft-rumors-detroit-lions-may-have-tried-trade-up-bengals-first-round-pick-shemar-stewart If this is true, the Bengals should have taken the trade offer if it was reasonable.

https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/news/look-espn-projects-shemar-stewart-to-tally-less-than-10-sacks-in-first-three-nfl-seasons-01jt3nc7ymky Hopefully this is pessimistic since college production is part of the calculation for pro production.

Eh, Shedeur's fall united Trump and Jamaal Bowman. Stephen A Smith proclaimed he was the victim of collusion like Kaepernick.

When the ski lifts in Gstaad raise their rates on day passes, we all have to tighten our belts.

I remember Mo Sanu got a fake call his draft year. The league apparently sent the phone number list out pretty widely. There was no reason for Ulbrich to have it in the first place, even if his kid wasn't a knucklehead.

Probably. If the starting CBs are Dax, CTB, and Turner, then Dax is most likely to be in the slot. Turner could probably do it too. Newton seems to be the backup at the position with Ivey and Wilson playing outside. It might depend on how fully recovered Dax (and DJ) are at the start of camp.

Most people would say Brad Holmes is a better talent evaluator than Duke Tobin. During the draft Holmes wore a shirt that had HWS crossed out on it, meaning he didn't care about a player's height, weight, and speed. Just how they looked on film. Meanwhile Golden at his press conference says we can't compromise on HWS.

Well, when you put it like that, he should be the DPOY, right? Duke likes to trade down in round 2 and a couple of picks both right before and after pick 49 were traded by other teams so that's probably what Potts is referring to. Golden probably wrestled the phone out of Dukes hand so he could get Knight. Yeah, the guys who are ready from game 1 are outliers. It's also not unusual for rookies to wear out over the length of an NFL season compared to college, ie the "rookie wall".

I think we all expect the defense to be improved this year compared to last. But let's admit Logan Wilson isn't pro bowl caliber. It was one of the Bengals players complaints in the NFLPA survey. The Bengals don't have a nutritionist on staff, apparently they have a consulting arrangement with someone who is available when called. Players also complained about the cafeteria, both the quality of the food and the fairly restricted hours.

No, what's comical is the Bengals process. The NFL is a highly competitive environment but the team is still run like a mom and pop store. Because there is no accountability, there is great continuity in the front office that allows Tobin to repeat errors over and over again. Yep. Free agency is where teams try to fill holes with known quantities. The draft is for adding talent across the roster. At least that's how most teams see it. The Bengals are an exception but sadly are not exceptional. If Burrow hadn't landed in Tobin's lap, where would we be? Probably back in the Klingler/O'Donnell/Blake era at QB.

We in Franklin county also get an 8% sales tax rate thanks to COTA. https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/tax.ohio.gov/tax_analysis/tax_data_series/sales_and_use/Salestaxmap.pdf

Rivers will be the swing tackle. Normally I'd expect him to be T4 with Ford as T3 but Ford might be starting at RG.

There are a couple of different issues being intertwined. One is where it's safe to play rookies. My view is that Burrow's health shouldn't be dependent on a rookie but it's fine to play rookies significant snaps at other positions. It's how they get better. In terms of development any team will expect their day 1 and 2 rookies to be able to handle significant snaps by the middle of their first year. The day 3 guys if they make the roster will likely be on special teams. For the Bengals, it looks like our first 3 picks are probably going to be starters from early in the year, maybe game 1. The day 3 guys will probably all be active on gameday. We can debate whether it's because the roster is thin in spots or because the draft was efficient in finding players who will play early.

Eh, if Burton plays well in year 4, even with limited snaps, he'll get a nice contract somewhere else. Was there any doubt? I think the number is around 13 mil so it's quite affordable with our 85 mil in projected cap space for 2026. That number doesn't include Hendrickson, Karras, Ossai, or CTB who are in the final year of their contracts in 2025.

He also has long arms so that increases the value of his good hand placement.

Good post. Agree that we're still vulnerable at RG and 3T. Maybe at FS too. It's a contract year for CTB and perhaps Dax. Ossai as well. I'll guess the rush line on obvious passing downs is Ossai-Sample-Stewart-Hendrickson. But it could be Murphy at LDE with Ossai in place of Sample and maybe Stewart at LT instead of RT. I doubt the team signs a significant veteran free agent at guard or DT or safety. It would be out of character for them to add Scherff or Simmons or Smith at this point.

Nonsense. It's true I could do a better job of GM than Duke Tobin but so could thousands of people. I've endorsed quite a few things the Bengals have done such as replacing Anarumo and Pollack, cutting Cappa and Rankins and basically forcing Hubbard into retirement. I like the addition of Slaton and Burks and the re-signing of Ford and Gesicki. I would have extended Higgins and Chase last year and saved the 11 mil the delay cost them but don't disagree we should keep them. We should also have extended Trey right after the season when it would have been considerably cheaper and should have done as Tobin pledged at the combine to add more talent from other teams.

It's not doom and gloom to note the disappointing nature of the Bengals offseason. They failed by their own standards. That doesn't mean a losing record next year (assuming Burrow stays healthy). I expect the team to make the playoffs, we're just not Super Bowl contenders. With a better offseason, we could have been contenders. Cue Marlon Brando.

Er, I don't hate all the picks. I think some of them may become good NFL players. But the group is poorly constructed and the team didn't get good value for the draft capital used. It's certainly not impossible that Stewart becomes a good player eventually. But will it be in 2025? Was he taken because the team thinks he's a great prospect or as a bargaining chip vs Hendrickson? I've seen a number of evaluators have the Bengals class in the bottom 5 of the league, haven't seen any with the group in the top 5. This offseason has featured so many missed opportunities. At this point we look further behind the Ravens, Bills, and Chiefs than at the end of last year. Teams like the Texans, Broncos, and Chargers are looking to pass us in 2025. All 6 of those teams have better defenses than the Bengals and 3 have comparable QBs.