JC

That’s fair. We haven’t seen much development. On the same token - they are the worst at drafting athletic linemen in the league. Their whole approach needs to change. Stop drafting linemen who don’t test at the combine/pro days and don’t score near the 8 RAS threshold.

I do think Jonah is solid and he’s going to get paid handsomely. But he’s built for zone scheme with his size and he doesn’t have great short area burst so he’s pretty limited at that. Even if the Bengals didn’t have Tee as a tag option - I’m not sure they would use it on Jonah. I think they want big and athletic.

Jonah Williams/Cedric O./Andre Smith are the most recent first round tackles in the Tobin era. Just because they’re throwing premium darts at the position doesn’t mean it’s going to guarantee success. They need to draft big guys who test well athletically and the tape is clean. Mims and Latham combines will be important.

Lamar is unreal but what Macdonald has done with that defense is outstanding coaching.

Brugler already banging the drum on Murphy over Newton for those interested in adding a game wrecking interior defensive lineman. Gun to my head - I think that will be the position they end up picking.

They don’t trust Hudson to run block. They only put him in on passing downs. He’s a nice piece but they need a more well rounded guy. If they truly want to start running the ball, they have to stop putting these big receivers in-line and asking them to block down on these defensive ends. I don’t see a lot of good alternatives outside of Hunter Henry. Schultz and Fant will probably be more than they’re willing to spend. Adam Trautman maybe? Played at UD. Incredibly good blocker. Decent receiving stats. A souped up Sample. I’d still like to see what Gesicki could do on this team. Big fella could have a 50 catch/8 TD season.

I would concur with that. They need to get fresher and cheaper legs there. Buddy has ~1600 carries and ~300 receptions. It’s probably time to make a new investment there. Chase Brown getting injured a couple of times muddied the waters a little bit though. Have to be able to rely on them and Joe has been about as reliable as they come at running back in terms of durability and keeping ahold of the ball. 6 career fumbles over ~2000 touches is unbelievable.

I think they are hurt by being in RPO so much. The linemen can’t fire off the snap and try to get downfield to run block because it’s a penalty. They basically have to hold a wall and if the route doesn’t win early - you have a quarterback in a short drop that now needs more time to let the routes develop. Kind of a recipe for disaster in terms of trying to pass block because the quarterback has no pocket to step up into and tackles who can’t drop step because it might be a run. They have good collective talent across the line. They need to figure out whether they want bigger/longer guys or smaller athletic guys. Judging by the OBJ/LC signings, they are moving towards bigger and longer guys. Getting a bigger and longer guy at RT and getting Joe under center and out of RPO on early downs should go a long way towards marrying the run and pass game. Getting a more explosive back would also be a nice piece of the equation.

Losing both would be tough. Not sure the Bengals can ask Pitcher to wait if they aren’t sure they will lose Callahan. I’d expect to lose at least one here.

Joseph Ossai is clearly not in their plans judging by how much he was phased out this year. I don’t think they would bat an eye at kicking him to the curb if they could add some more juice. I don’t think edge is off the table really ever, but especially day 1 or day 2 this year. They do need to be proactive in replacing Carter and Tupou though. I’d expect at least two new bodies in the defensive tackle room and hopefully three.

I wouldn’t. But the Bengals showed us how much they valued tight end this past year by booting it in free agency and ignoring it in the draft.

No one said he was the answer. He’s the prototype of what they want on the line and a big reason they took a chance on him despite the back issues.

Zac tried to build a zone blocking team with small lineman and it failed miserably. Now he’s moved to gap but Ted/Cappa/Jonah are all fairly slight and can’t move their man consistently. They will go after a big guy at right tackle in the draft/FA. I imagine a mid round center well that has a nasty streak to them. I’m not surprised they moved on from LC due to the cap, but they found a really nice groove with him in there last year. Basically what we should expect them to target next year.

Joe had less knockdowns per game than Jared Goff and Patrick Mahomes this year. Two guys who objectively have the most resources invested in their trenches. It’s a matter of luck and circumstance. Pat has had his injuries, Goff has been pretty healthy. Joe might just be more susceptible to this stuff. It’s going to happen in the future. The team would be wise to have a guy in house to hold down the fort if he can make it back for the post season.

The Cleveland game was so unserious that he didn’t even play the fourth quarter and got the greatest assist in the world from Tee Higgins and Nick Mullens to pull off the Vikings game. He got destroyed by the Stealers defense twice. Basically looked like a backup. Couldn’t process quick enough and started to get careless. Chiefs went to trail 2 man in the second half taking away Jamarr and Tee and we didn’t score. I’d love if they could get some real value for him. He’s just not that good that a team is going to value him over the guys that might be available like Fields/Mac/probably even Zach Wilson.

That’s not the only factor though. Baseline - I don’t think the bengals would let him go for less than a day 2 pick. If you’re trading a day 2 pick for him, you have to give him a contract. Can’t give up premium capital and lose him for nothing if he performs. Day two picks are also what you’re going to use if you want to move up in the first round and get your guy. Best comp I can think of is Taylor Heinicke. Nothing really pops in terms of arm/speed/stature and he is what he is, but puts up decent stats. Could probably get a small multi year next year. Hes going to be here next year.

Regardless of how you boys feel about going and getting all the draft picks and playing moneyball: -They still don’t draft very well -They are the worst in the league at drafting offensive linemen. -A day 3 pick is not starting anywhere on this team outside of punter next year. -There isn’t a team in the league that is going to value him as much as the Bengals do. He’s incredibly cheap and completely erases a hole they’ve had on the roster the next few years. One that, in case you guys didn’t catch much ball this year - QBs were dropping like flies and not all of them were season ending. Any team in the league who loses their quarterback for the season is capital F - fucked. If Joe Burrow gets a concussion and Jake Browning has to step in they’ve got a fighting chance. Moves the needle a little more than some backup linebacker they pick to run down the field on kickoffs.

Yeah - I’m glad PDJ brought that to light a little bit. This team cannot afford to rely on him being the guy next year. I really expect another day 2 pick to be made at receiver with a free agent tight end to supplement.

No one is giving up a 2nd round pick for a 28 year old Jake Browning. I can’t imagine a team that would give up even decent compensation outside of maybe where Callahan lands. Talking like maybe an early day 3 pick if he doesn’t end up with a team that has an established dude. I’m inclined to believe it’s Joe Burrow and the way Joe Burrow likes to play football. He isn’t afraid to sit in there the extra second and take a hit and he loves to get as many guys out in route as he possibly can. You could put the best five guys in the league in front of him and he would still get hit. It’s the reality of the Joe Burrow experience. He’s fearless to a fault. A lot of quarterbacks got hurt this year. Doesn’t have to be season ending. They’ve got a dude that can keep the team afloat for once.

Joe Burrow has done nothing to instill confidence that he can stay healthy for an entire season at this point. The only healthy off season this guy has had was this past one and that evaporated three practices in. They have Browning for cheap and he’s shown he can keep the team afloat if needed. That’s more than they’ve been able to say for Brandon Allen/Ryan Finley during the Zac Taylor era.

They should and they will. There’s enough promising tape out there to give it another try. With all the miscommunication, the hope should be that that simplify the defense a little bit and let these young guys use their 4.3 wheels to play fast. Stop trying to play split coverages and go out and get a guy who can help BJ Hill get some interior pressure. Zach Carter can’t be playing significant snaps for this team next year. He’s a year 3 project they can give up on if he doesn’t show significant improvement next preseason.

Interesting. My jaw would hit the floor if they didn’t at least tag him. In my perfect world they’d tag and trade him to Carolina. Not sure his value would bring back a return like that though. Dallas seems to have a good thing going putting some nice complimentary pieces around Lamb. I think an approach like that would be ideal. They’ve probably played themselves out of getting one of Nabers/Odunze. Could be in the Brian Thomas Jr. range. They need more speed at the skill positions. I wouldn’t be surprised if there offensive starters across the board had the worst RAS aggregate in the league. Chase/Andrei/Charlie would be a long way in improving that and they showed some nice things today, but hard to tell anything based on who they were up against.

Disappointing year. They’ve leaned so far into making sure they were prepped to beat the Bills/Chiefs/Dolphins that they lost track of the easiest way to get into the playoffs and that’s winning the north. With that being said - I’m going to completely contradict myself and make a case for another pass catcher. -Tee is playing on the tag this year. There isn’t going to be a team that is willing to give up the compensation they’d want after the year he had and he’s not going to get the guaranteed money that seemed to be the hold up this offseason after an injury marred season. He’s dealt with injuries every year he’s been here. I can see why they’re hesitant to go that route with him. -Tyler is gone. He’ll go somewhere and get a nice contract like Adam Thielen. Let’s just hope it’s not in the AFCN -Jamarr hold in is a real possibility. -The young guys just didn’t show enough. Jones had a huge mistake in the Vikings game and seems to get tackled by a stiff breeze. Iosivas had a long catch of 16 this year. You hope they can develop but for a team that puts 4 to 5 guys out in routes more than anyone in the NFL you probably want a little more than hope. -Hudson was nice and I hope he’s back but his snap count was strictly tied to throwing the ball. You want a little more balance from that spot into not tipping what’s coming. I would expect a free agent signing here and a little more aggressive than they were last year. I don’t think Bowers will be there but I’m not sure the Bengals value tight end enough to select him over a tackle/corner/wr anyways. -Receiver market is bare if they do decide to somehow get enough compensation for Tee. Doesn’t necessarily have to be a day 1 guy - but I’d expect one selected in the top 100 picks with an eye on really trying to go at it with their quarterback and two outside guys and some more juice in the slot offensively.

For those smarter than myself - the out year guarantees are what we are looking for, right? We’ve always guaranteed year 1 but given roster bonus past that?

That one play down the seam for Eifert looked so much like how Gronk does it.  I am so ready to watch the first team play like two series next week.