I_C_Deadpeople

A few more Athletic story tidbits: Practice comparison I received more than a handful of tweets and even some comments at practice that centered around the Bengals’ practice habits as compared to the Detroit Lions. The feeling after day one was that the Lions went too easy and worked on more stretching and practice habits than they did actual football. It was the Bengals practice that displayed the players in more one-on-one situations and gave scouts the eye candy they came for. It wasn’t until days two and three that the Lions began to ramp up the intensity and speed of their practices. It felt like they established how to practice on day one and then practiced with intent on the following days. There was no wasted time or space when watching their units work. The Bengals’ practices seemed to keep the same pace and design for much of the week, but people around me started to notice how often position groups were standing around, drinking water and waiting for another portion of practice to finish. In a game where each team is guaranteed to kick off just once, the Bengals spent a considerable amount of time practicing it. Turner classic I have to admit, I wasn’t a big fan of the hiring of offensive line coach Jim Turner last offseason. With his history of being rough around the edges, I wasn’t sure he was the guy who fit Taylor’s “culture.” Then, they got the running game fixed and the offensive line played better down the stretch and Turner was able to step off the hot seat for Bengals fans. At practice this week, Turner was the most entertaining coach. We knew he was going to be loud and raw, but it gave us a chance to hear what he was teaching his players. It felt like Turner was going to blow up after day one. He ended the practice with a quick coaching session on how to line up and how to know where your target is going. He was very clear and concise and didn’t leave anything up for debate. “Is anybody here confused about any of this? No? Then go home.” Turner walked away and left his players to the media. Some seemed shell-shocked and others inspired. Maybe they didn’t know what to expect, but many had a rough first day. Turner seemed to take a liking to St. John’s offensive tackle Ben Bartch. A Division III player at the Senior Bowl can go one of two ways – he’s either completely outmatched or he surprises everyone and gets loads of praise. Bartch won the first two days and seemed to respond to everything Turner was correcting. The small-school prospect already had great hands, but Turner wanted him to control his base, not get his feet too wide or too narrow and drive with the correct step in run blocking. With each tip, Bartch corrected himself and “GOOD, BARTCH!” boomed from Turner. This wasn’t the case for everyone. Kentucky’s Logan Stenberg received plenty of fire for his inability to lower his pads and gain leverage. Even when Stenberg seemed to win a rep and jumped on the defender who failed to land his bull rush, Turner replied with, “They’re (pointing at the scouts) not impressed with that Mickey Mouse shit. They came here to see you use your hands and block. Be an athlete.” Even with the toughness of Turner, he ended the last day of practice with some words of encouragement when talking to his linemen. “You need to play with confidence,” he told them. “Forget the bad plays and move on. So what, you lost a rep? That’s life. You move on and try to win the next one. You think there’s a lineman in the NFL that didn’t give up a sack? There isn’t one. It happens. You need to get back up and win the next one. I want you guys to go out there and compete and earn your draft position.” Right after that, I asked LSU center Lloyd Cushenberry about being coached by Turner and if that’s the type of raw style he liked. “Love it,” Cushenberry said. “He’s a good coach. Hard-nosed. That’s how I’m used to being coached.” A little tough love seemed to be appreciated by the biggest men on the field.

LOL, and both seem to think they know as much as their fathers.

https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/01/23/zac-taylor-duke-tobin-bengals-senior-bowl-2020-nfl-draft

Tobin has been actually talking this week, Cincy Jungle sight has various articles and a short podcast. Athletic also had some info his yapping. Some snippets: Here, I want to break out five answers given by Tobin over the course of our 58-minute sit-down and analyze what they mean in specifics and could turn into going forward. 1. On whether there is a point at which he changes the philosophy on free agency this year because of being in a place with a new coaching staff that has pinpointed where the major holes exist: “Sure. But we’re not going to force it, though. That’s the thing. The free agent that fits us, that is good for us, that is what we want: has to be available, has to be interested in us, has to fit within our structure that we have in place with other players. If there is a good fit there, we’ll go after it. But it doesn’t always marry up with our needs and what free agency offers to the Bengals. It doesn’t always marry up. But we’ll look to fill in areas where we think we can. There will be targeted areas as we go. We’ll have a lot of discussions with agents as we go. We’ll see ranges players are going and how that fits within our salary structure. We’ll have a little more clarity about the players that we have under contract, what we’ll have available as we go as well. When we start making decisions about the draft and stuff, some other things might fall into place that would define our situation a little more. But it’s not just, ‘Oh, you can fix that with free agency,’ because it might not be there in free agency the way you want it. It might not be there. You don’t just bring in a guy, overpay him, and then he doesn’t produce in that role and then you’re in the same spot, just with less capital to improve the situation.” Bengals fans’ eyes roll collectively at this one. They so badly want free agents, and the team’s view on how to employ that method of roster building just isn’t going to change. The last line might as well be on the wall of the weight room right next to “Iron Sharpens Iron.” But while most might take this as a dismissal of free agency, I didn’t hear that necessarily. Any aggressiveness in free agency for this team would always involve pinpointed aggressiveness. One or two specific fits. And when discussing that concept, Tobin says, “If there is a good fit, we’ll go after it.” I do believe there’s hope in that. I followed up that answer with a question about whether the team was more willing to dive into free agency this year, and he pointed out there is willingness every year but “our roster needs help.” The Bengals need additions on all three levels of defense and offensive line, which Tobin even mentioned specifically in this conversation. They have seven draft picks. Six after Joe Burrow. That isn’t getting it done. Point being, it might end up more of the same in the free-agency department for the Bengals. A big splash from them wouldn’t be the same as a big splash for other teams. But I don’t think it was dismissive of the concept. 5. On why they didn’t trade at the deadline: “The draft pick is not just a draft pick. It’s an actual player, and that player is an unproven NFL player. And you’re giving up a proven NFL player for an unproven NFL player. Maybe that guy will develop. Maybe he’ll develop quickly, or maybe he’ll develop slowly. You know what you have here. If this guy is a high-level football player, I’m taking him for our football team because I know what he is. I can’t predict injuries — nobody can. It’s unfortunate that maybe our best player was hurt all year and our first-round pick got hurt and didn’t play all year. I can’t predict that stuff. But I know what A.J. Green is. I know what Geno Atkins is. The pick that you’re talking about, now, you might get a good player there and we’re gonna try to get good players with every pick, but you can look at everybody’s draft, and that guy didn’t work out, that guy didn’t work out and that guy didn’t work out. I understand the school of thought. If you have a proven guy, it’s better to stay with the proven guy so he can continue to produce, and we think those guys can continue to produce.” I wrote about this organizational philosophy back at the deadline. During the season especially, they aren’t going to trade players they plan on keeping into the future for picks. Teams asking for Green or Atkins weren’t going to make much headway. They very much stand by “a bird in the hand’s worth two in the bush.” It tangentially connects to the free-agency discussion above. For the Bengals, a proven, known quantity they want to keep makes for a safer allocation of money to create a roster of peak value, rather than riskier plays in free agency or draft picks. I’m not here to tell you that philosophy is right, wrong or indifferent, but it’s where they resolutely stand. Tobin made it clear.

The Ketchup Whisperer was on NFL radio and FWIW he said the North squad has far more talented OL than the South

Every Company needs all types - need the worker bees as much as the thinkers. Important to find the right job for the right people, one they personally enjoy and will be successful at. There is an old saying about government - they will continue to promote someone until they find their level of incompetence.

I would rather have a better backup for more

Nope, VP and I run 3 plants, all successful due to very engaged staff

All of Harts contract became dead money the moment they signed him

They can laugh all the want, but I set the bonuses and if I have staff like you I punt them

Reminds me of the joke (might have been Anthony Jeslnick) -who said he had a friend growing up who had sex with his teacher AND he was home schooled.

On NFL radio they just noted how the North practise at the senior bowl (Lions coaches) was much more up tempo and organized than the South (our crack staff).

This guy seems like a typical Bengal OL pick - so much 'potential' he will 'be a steal'..future fail Prince Tega Wanogho – offensive tackle – Auburn It’s no secret that offensive line is one of the most glaring needs for the Bengals and if you’re using merely the eye test, Wanogho passes with flying colors. The 6-foot-7, 310-pounder was No. 24 on Bruce Feldman’s 2019 college football freaks list for his ability to bench 415 pounds, squat 560, run a 4.95 40 and jump 32 inches. “He’s a great testament to taking his development seriously,” Auburn strength coach Ryan Russell told Feldman. “He came in at 260 and is consistently 310-315 now without losing speed, agility or capability. He has progressed every year.” But Wanogho is raw. The native of Nigeria came to the U.S. to be a basketball player and came to Auburn as a defensive end before being converted to the offensive line. He became a three-year starter at Auburn but is still a work in progress. Given that he will need to be coached up, it’s the perfect opportunity for the Bengals’ coaches to see if they can do so in the short time they have with him. Brugler says Wanogho’s instinctive issues are understandable, but his intelligence and “want to” are there.

Agree, as I mentioned a few posts ago you have to execute on the vision , not just state it. Although, I believe the Bengal vision is to make a nice annual amount for the family without taking nay risk and they execute on it quite well.