T-Dub

That's the kind of "wide zone scheme" I want to see

Good businesses understand they're not the only hot dog stand in Hungrytown. There are 31 other teams out there for whom success means working to make sure everyone else fails. There are a handful that are trainwrecks no one should try to emulate but for the most part it's an open competition for talent. An individual owner's moral code or ideas about what's fair & right or wrong don't amount to shit. If even a handful of those other teams are willing to pay someone X amount, that's the standard. If they're willing to spend X amount on scouts, coaching, facilities, or free Gatorade then that is the standard everyone else has to try to match. How ownership feels about it doesn't matter. It has at times seemed like the Bengals FO were trying to win a merit badge that doesn't exist. There are Superbowl trophies and then there's whether everyone thinks Mike Brown is a smart businessman & swell guy. It's not always been clear which of those 2 things were the goal.

The injury stuff does concern me but I have to assume the difference between NFL strength & conditioning vs college is dramatic, even at a program like Georgia. The fact that he (apparently) tried to come back while still hurt says a lot. Good on the Bulldog coaches for having the sense to pull him before he made things worse but I'm confident this guy will be on the field if he's at all able. No more of these OTs that seem to keep coming up with mysterious muscle strains every time they have to jog a lap. Still wouldnt mind seeing 2-3 more OL picks in this draft but what a relief to see them do the obvious thing and invest in what should be a long term answer at OT.

Said the same in the overall draft thread. I like that he came back & played after the injury.

No more excuses for Pollack.

If you're basing that on Trent Brown there's actually a very strong chance he will. Brown has averaged about 10 games a year over his career and has never made it through two full seasons in a row.

Goes to show how much the emphasis on calling games to promote scoring has devalued the defense

Sorry, there are only rookies available

Sweat or a WR

I've gotten a lot of grief over admitting I'm worried they intend to simply ride his popularity for as long as they can get away with it. The big OL upgrade was signing a guy that's played one full season in the last 5 years. Too many half-measures IMO.

That's what I'm saying, either pay the star players market value or kill it in the mid rounds of the draft. When they insist on working with a bare bones scouting department that leaves one option; write the checks. They can't keep pace with the rest of the league without doing one or the other. I doubt they can win a SB without doing both. Paying Burrow is just laying a foundation, it's going to take a lot more money, coaching, good roster decisions & everything else if they want their investment in him to pay off.

Thank you for asking this question so I didn't have to 😅 no ninja Can't be "Katie's Team" but someone else's fault whenever they do something wrong. Where does the buck stop, exactly? If you don't think Papa Mike still has final say on things you're fooling yourself.

Bartender, I'll have what he's having. Our WR2, best pass rusher AND first round pick?! Why not throw in Burrow and the stadium itself? I admit I haven't watched Justin Jefferson closely but I think someone would've mentioned if he was a Superbowl MVP five years in a row while inventing cold fusion and curing cancer in the off-season. Anyhow I think the issue here may come down to the team not drafting well enough to be playing hardball with their top talent. There's no one ready to step in behind most of them & they and their agents know it. .

Nah just kinda obvious that some people can say whatever they want. It always gets hella weird around here this time of year though, think I'll check back in for the draft.

That would explain the very selective enforcement, or lack thereof, but I accepted that a long time ago

How would you know what the mods did? Interesting. Still haven't called anyone names over it so what's the issue? Try to avoid blocking people but that's probably the move here, good call.

You should check the receipts bud. We were talking about football and someone brought up Sample sleeping with someone's wife. I called that out as weird, reversed the accusation and then the name calling started. Nice try with the gaslighting but it's all posted there in order so it kinda fails. Unless someone has an agenda, that is.

Yeah you know the usual bs, I don't like or question a move the team made so I must be clinically depressed and someone is very concerned. Goofy af.

These mocks always seem to get kind of random right before the draft. Smoke screen bullshit leaked by the teams, media overthinking picks, IDK. I'd like to say waiting until the bottom of the 3rd to address the OL is a sign of that craziness, but after watching them skip it entirely in the last draft I'm not so certain.

Seems to me they're afraid to risk trading Browning. They'd be giving up the opportunity to go 9-8 if wide zone concepts send Burrow to IR again. Seems kind of silly but 9-8 does keep butts in seats/eyes on TV better than 5-12. That's the only reason I can see for keeping a 2nd string QB instead of trying to flip him for a starter.

A scenario where we manage to draft this guy with a comp pick would be pretty cool.

So maybe just don't read it instead of pretending we have the credentials to psychoanalyze someone with a bunch of painfully transparent concern trolling nonsense based on an argument over pro football. That is also an option available to everyone. Honestly... Sorry I don't like someone's favorite jock but in fact life is pretty good lately. As if anyone actually gives a shit and wasn't just trying to win an argument about (checks notes) a marginal 2nd string pro football player. Psychoanalyze that, maybe.

It's weird to me we can't argue about something so inconsequential without people getting in their feelings, yet...

LMAO yes let's talk about "projection" WEIRD.

You sound immensely qualified and while I'd love to continue the discussion about Drew Sample or TE's in general, apparently this is a "Let's talk about someone's wife" thread now. Which is a very normal and not-weird thing to interject, I think you'd agree. Judging from the Joe Mixon threads all we need is a few more authoritative declarations of how the team won't cut him. When that happens you know he should be packing his bags