sparky151

That doesn't make much sense. We're paying Sample more than Trent Brown, whom I'd assume you will concede is a better blocker? We could get a rookie for a quarter of Sample's average pay. This seems like Bobby Hart all over again. Bengals decide they must have some below average player and are willing to pay him whatever it takes to get to yes. As opposed to getting a better player who coincidentally is also cheaper.

JC Latham has been mocked to the Bengals quite a bit. He declined to do the standard tests at the combine, then again at his pro day. So, he'll probably drop, hopefully past us.

The Athletic taking a dump on the Bengals 2023 draft. Rates us at 26th. https://theathletic.com/5366550/2024/03/28/nfl-draft-2023-grades-cj-stroud-bryce-young/ Cincinnati Bengals: D The Bengals took three swings on defense to open the 2023 draft — Myles Murphy (No. 28), DJ Turner II (No. 60) and Jordan Battle (No. 95) — and Turner looks most likely to grow into a full-time starter. Battle struggled to grasp the communication and play-to-play responsibilities of Cincinnati’s defense; Murphy didn’t make much of an impact, even as his participation increased.

Bengals didn't allow the most sacks. Bengals allowed 50 and 6 teams allowed more, up to the Giants at 85.

Yeah, the Sample contract doesn't make any sense. He's been a free agent the last couple of years and had no outside interest. So he re-signed with the Bengals for vet min. What did he do last year that made him so valuable? He's a good blocker and his hands are ok, but he isn't a route runner or much of a receiving threat. You can get that on day 3 of the draft from a rookie. If some other team was offering him that, Bengals should have let them sign him and take the comp pick.

Most college players who are good enough for the NFL are team captains. Some teams have a bunch, like 6 or more. It probably matters more for veteran free agents than for drafted players.

Drew Sample's contract not such a steal.

No more squib kicks either. If the ball hits the ground short of the opposing 20, receiving team takes possession in an advantageous position. Some teams will just blast it through the endzone and avoid returns, conceding better field position than currently. For kicking teams who want to put the ball into play, I'd guess they will look for low, spinning kicks that stay inbounds and avoid the returner. If it takes him a second to secure the ball after it hits the ground, that should be good for the coverage team. The receiving team can use up to 2 returners behind their blockers so if a kicking team proves it can pull off low, spinning kicks, the counter might be to put an extra returner on the field and fair catch as much as possible.

Onside kick attempts have to be announced in advance and are only allowed in the 4th quarter. Max of 2 per team per game. The landing zone is from the goal line to the 20. So that's a pretty big target for kickers to aim toward.

The boat lost power and couldn't steer but radioed ashore so the bridge was closed to traffic. But a crew working on the bridge didn't get off and all 6 are missing.

I haven't checked it in detail but isn't it still a free kick with a live ball that can be recovered by the kicking team? If the kicker puts the kickoff short of the goal line, once the ball hits the ground, it belongs to whoever can get to it, right?

The rule change only allows review of the game clock, not the play clock. So it can check whether a snap occurred before a quarter ended or not. But not whether a delay of game penalty should have been called or not.

He didn't make the probowl because he wasn't blocking for Kermit. But he was still better than Jonah from the prior year.

The main effect of the new kickoff rule is that nobody moves until the ball touches a player or the ground. If the return team can sustain a block for a couple of seconds, there's a good chance of big returns. A slippery kickoff returner like Cordarelle Patterson or Kadarius Toney will be more valuable.

There are always some good athletes to be found at lower division schools. But we're a long ways from Kenny Anderson of Augustana. I'm generally in favor of using at least picks in rounds 1-5 for FBS guys, mostly from the power 5. They're easier to evaluate as at least a few of their games each year they'll face future NFL opponents. The OT from Northern Michigan who blew up the RAS last year hasn't been heard from in the NFL.

Murphy and Newton are 3Ts and we have a pair of them already. There aren't any NTs worthy of day 1 selection. Sweat is probably the only one for day 2, unless you want Jenkins at NT at 300 lbs. There are several who will go on day 3.

If he's traded, it doesn't have to be for a draft pick. It could be for another player such as Derrick Brown or Dexter Lawrence. They are top NTs who play for teams without much at WR.

He probably wants 7 or 8 mil per year on a deal that runs for 3 or 4 years. He was making 10 mil last year so he's hesitant to take a big paycut if they are only offering 5 mil for one year or something like that.

I wouldn't trade our first round pick in addition to Tee to get up high enough to take MHJ or Nabers. They'd be upgrades on Tee but we have enough needs on the lines that we need pick 18. Since we signed Brown, I don't think we absolutely have to take a tackle in round 1, so we could consider a WR, DT, or CB in addition to RT. But Brown is only signed for 1 season and has a long injury history. We can't count on him to play every game and none of us want Carman or Ford out there as Burrow's protection.

No, taking advantage of QB-needy teams would have been the right call. Assuming Murphy wasn't still on the board at 41, we could have instead had Dawand Jones, Darnell Washington, plus pick 38 in this draft.

I'd trade Tee for NE's 2nd rounder. They have lots of cap room to pay him and we can get a good player, not necessarily a WR at that pick. If AD Mitchell was still available there, then he'd be the pick. Or maybe we take Brian Thomas at 18 and come back for a tackle at 34.

That also means the Bengals miss trade opportunities such as last year when Vegas, Atlanta, and Tennessee all wanted to trade into the end of round 1 to take Levis. We could have taken advantage of that but instead Arizona got to do that.

On the PFF site, I had the sliders in the middle for teams drafting by need, positional value, and randomness. No chance Alt falls to 18 in the real thing.

Call this one the Big Boy draft.

Yeah, I'd be ok with JPJ at 18. He could probably beat out Volson for the LG spot this year, then replace Karras next season. Bengals have a history of taking centers in the first round. Bob Johnson, Blair Bush, and Dave Rimington come to mind. None of them really lived up to their draft slot but they were solid pivotmen.