14 hours ago, GoBengals said:

I have heard several important parties within the team mention depth being of increased importance going forward, as we went from having really good starters and youth depth to having some decent young starters and no depth now, like trey should have been the starter and murphy and stewert and ossai in rotation everywhere, TJ and BJ starting and jenkins and jackson backup, etc..

so DE will be a curious one, do you go grab an Oweh, like some mentioned, pay him solid money, have murphy and stewerts making about the same... and then what if DE is what lands in your lap in the draft..

as those free agent decision MUST be made before the draft so, do you end up with 4 high value assets spent on DE going into this season? you cant go into it with just murphy and stewert, you can have that plan as starters, but you need some reliable rotation and action pieces behind them.

and similar things at LB and CB, safety we can take a FA and a draft pick no problem there..

Must improve pass rush no matter.

21 hours ago, GoBengals said:

I have heard several important parties within the team mention depth being of increased importance going forward, as we went from having really good starters and youth depth to having some decent young starters and no depth now, like trey should have been the starter and murphy and stewert and ossai in rotation everywhere, TJ and BJ starting and jenkins and jackson backup, etc..

so DE will be a curious one, do you go grab an Oweh, like some mentioned, pay him solid money, have murphy and stewerts making about the same... and then what if DE is what lands in your lap in the draft..

as those free agent decision MUST be made before the draft so, do you end up with 4 high value assets spent on DE going into this season? you cant go into it with just murphy and stewert, you can have that plan as starters, but you need some reliable rotation and action pieces behind them.

and similar things at LB and CB, safety we can take a FA and a draft pick no problem there..

Clearly the defense needs immediate help but we only get so many draft picks. Round 4 and beyond it gets more unlikely to find anyone that's an immediate starter, or even likely to be starter quality in future. Sure it happens, but it's not a realistic strategy they should be planning around.

So where's that leave it? Faced with starting most of the same defense and expecting them to suddenly be decent? That seems crazy optimistic for a unit that was setting records for bad. Kind of like, they could be twice as good next year and still be the worst defense in the NFL. Expecting them to go from that to a group capable of returning to the playoffs, let alone a Super Bowl.. It's not realistic at all. Again, I understand they improved over the last half of the season, but that glosses over the fact that they were still shit. Slightly better than literally historically worst ever is nowhere near good, or even average.

Point being they're not just going to draft this guy or that guy and it's all fixed. They need an immediate influx of talent, across the board.

Yet.. The attitude I'm getting from the team is like they think they're just one or two pieces away from a good defense. It's delusional and I don't have much hope in them fixing something they don't want to admit is broken.

On 1/25/2026 at 1:30 AM, GoBengals said:

I have heard several important parties within the team mention depth being of increased importance going forward, as we went from having really good starters and youth depth to having some decent young starters and no depth now, like trey should have been the starter and murphy and stewert and ossai in rotation everywhere, TJ and BJ starting and jenkins and jackson backup, etc..

so DE will be a curious one, do you go grab an Oweh, like some mentioned, pay him solid money, have murphy and stewerts making about the same... and then what if DE is what lands in your lap in the draft..

as those free agent decision MUST be made before the draft so, do you end up with 4 high value assets spent on DE going into this season? you cant go into it with just murphy and stewert, you can have that plan as starters, but you need some reliable rotation and action pieces behind them.

and similar things at LB and CB, safety we can take a FA and a draft pick no problem there..

Wait, what? We're just going to hand Stewart a starting job and hope the defense is better? Talk about sunk cost fallacy! Let him earn his snaps like anyone else. He didn't show anything in 2025 that indicated he should be starting in 2026.

20 hours ago, T-Dub said:

Clearly the defense needs immediate help but we only get so many draft picks. Round 4 and beyond it gets more unlikely to find anyone that's an immediate starter, or even likely to be starter quality in future. Sure it happens, but it's not a realistic strategy they should be planning around.

So where's that leave it? Faced with starting most of the same defense and expecting them to suddenly be decent? That seems crazy optimistic for a unit that was setting records for bad. Kind of like, they could be twice as good next year and still be the worst defense in the NFL. Expecting them to go from that to a group capable of returning to the playoffs, let alone a Super Bowl.. It's not realistic at all. Again, I understand they improved over the last half of the season, but that glosses over the fact that they were still shit. Slightly better than literally historically worst ever is nowhere near good, or even average.

Point being they're not just going to draft this guy or that guy and it's all fixed. They need an immediate influx of talent, across the board.

Yet.. The attitude I'm getting from the team is like they think they're just one or two pieces away from a good defense. It's delusional and I don't have much hope in them fixing something they don't want to admit is broken.

Yeah, we may get the usual hoping and wishing strategy instead of something more proactive with redundant options for entirely predictable contingencies. While it's reasonable to hope the 10th player drafted will become a starter during his rookie year and an above average NFL player by the end of year 2, he shouldn't be expected to start immediately. So that means if we get Downs or Bain or Bailey at 10, they should be earning snaps in camp and preseason at best. We need to sign a veteran safety to upgrade from Stone. We need a decent slot corner. We need a starting LB to replace Carter. We will need a replacement for Hendrickson and probably Ossai too.

The draft won't do all of that. So the team needs to get out the checkbook and fix its terrible contract structure preferences.

3 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Wait, what? We're just going to hand Stewart a starting job and hope the defense is better? Talk about sunk cost fallacy! Let him earn his snaps like anyone else. He didn't show anything in 2025 that indicated he should be starting in 2026.

He didn't do anything in 2024 to indicate he'd be ready to start in 2025, either. For some other team with a solid defense, as BPA, I'm guessing he would've fallen a few more spots but it'd make sense. I think that's how the draft is supposed to work. For the Bengals, it's hard not to see it as a money-saving move with Hendrickson in mind. Drafting to replace whoever is going to cost them the most in FA is not a winning strategy.

3 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

The draft won't do all of that.

Just like last year.. but now they have even less time for a defensive rebuild. The draft is not the place for quick fixes. They're going to have to pay market rates in FA for that to happen, not to mention convince a top FA defender that they are his best option. I don't know that they're capable of all that, but they did it with Hendrickson. The way things have gone with him doesn't help their case.

They'd also have to start by admitting there's a need.

veering OT but that brings to mind why Lou might've preferred to play a ride-or-die Bengal like Hubbard despite his injury, over a slack-ass, lazy & uncoachable slob that was openly coasting off first round draft pick status. Speaking of sunk costs. Oh, he's ready to play football now? Fantastic, I'm sure some team he hasn't taken advantage of will overlook all that & pay him well. I'll even hope he does well there but the Bengals would be fools to trust him again.

We will know Stewart will be ready for a starting role in 2026 because Hobs will tell us what a great TC he had. That is all the team needs to see to come to a solid conclusion. Pravda.

5 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

We will know Stewart will be ready for a starting role in 2026 because Hobs will tell us what a great TC he had. That is all the team needs to see to come to a solid conclusion. Pravda.

So you don't think Stewart will improve this coming season?

I do..

6 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

We will know Stewart will be ready for a starting role in 2026 because Hobs will tell us what a great TC he had. That is all the team needs to see to come to a solid conclusion. Pravda.

Yeah, last year in training camp we got a steady stream of stories about how Golden's defense was shutting down the first team offense. Then in preseason they got shredded but the narrative was that we were playing vanilla to not tip our hand. Then the games started counting and we still got shredded.

But next year when they tell us the defense looks good, it won't be a lie, because .....?

On 1/25/2026 at 1:30 AM, GoBengals said:

I have heard several important parties within the team mention depth being of increased importance going forward, as we went from having really good starters and youth depth to having some decent young starters and no depth now, like trey should have been the starter and murphy and stewert and ossai in rotation everywhere, TJ and BJ starting and jenkins and jackson backup, etc..

so DE will be a curious one, do you go grab an Oweh, like some mentioned, pay him solid money, have murphy and stewerts making about the same... and then what if DE is what lands in your lap in the draft..

as those free agent decision MUST be made before the draft so, do you end up with 4 high value assets spent on DE going into this season? you cant go into it with just murphy and stewert, you can have that plan as starters, but you need some reliable rotation and action pieces behind them.

and similar things at LB and CB, safety we can take a FA and a draft pick no problem there..

Ridiculous to even consider for a team that's top 10 in cap space. "Oh, no! what if we have too many good players??" I mean, that "Big investment" in Oweh is a mid tier contract. You're going to clutch your pearls over a mid tier contract. And OMFG, you're SO SURE that a first round DE is going to be awesome it's not worth signing a Free Agent? If our LAST TWO Frist round picks weren't total dog shit we wouldn't even be talking about this. But they were, and are, so we are.

"Depth is really important, but let's not sign any guys so we have good depth."

4 "High Value Assets" - Sunk cost fallacy man. How much could we get for them in a trade right now? That's what they're worth. It doesn't matter where they were drafted. right now you'd get a better trade deal for Shedur Sanders than Shemar Stewart. That's how "High Value" he is. "High Value". LOL. Do you know how much I paid for that car before it caught on fire?

Oh, noes! How much should the team that constantly $10M under the cap spend?? Can't spend all of it. "Rookie Pool". "In Season Emergencies". Gotta hold onto $20M in cap space in case we have to sign Joe Flacco and only have $18M left over. It's just plain fiscally smart to go in with big question marks on your roster!

This is how we lose seasons to "Bad Luck" and end up drafting for need instead of BPA.

Man, this thinking is so convoluted and defeatist, you should apply to be Duke's understudy. I mean, do we really want to spend money on dinner when they might throw something really good in the dumpster? Unfortunately, you have wait until the place is closed to go through the dumpster... Let's just stick to breadsticks and water for now. I mean, what happens if we pay for Lobster and then find another Lobster in the dumpster later!

I’m sure Mike Brown is taking your comments under consideration, Lost.

46 minutes ago, spicoli said:

I’m sure Mike Brown is taking your comments under consideration, Lost.

I sure did lol

2 hours ago, spicoli said:

I’m sure Mike Brown is taking your comments under consideration, Lost.

As much as he is yours... Thanks for really adding something to the conversation.

5 hours ago, claptonrocks said:

So you don't think Stewart will improve this coming season?

I do..

I have no idea but really the odds are no better than 50-50. Because he has shown nothing.

5 minutes ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

I have no idea but really the odds are no better than 50-50. Because he has shown nothing.

Ok.

16 hours ago, LostInDaJungle said:

As much as he is yours... Thanks for really adding something to the conversation.

Certainly my comment is no worse than screaming at the sky about something that will clearly never change.

4 hours ago, spicoli said:

Certainly my comment is no worse than screaming at the sky about something that will clearly never change.

I suppose we should all sit quietly and sulk about it on this Bengals message board made for discussing the Bengals

23 hours ago, spicoli said:

Certainly my comment is no worse than screaming at the sky about something that will clearly never change.

Y U talking about football on a football message board???

You're not mad that I'm saying something, you're mad about what I'm saying, and the best retort you can think of it to tell me to shut up. Check yourself.

37 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

You're not mad that I'm saying something, you're mad about what I'm saying

Lol, I'm not mad about anything in the slightest. Matter of fact, I'm completely apathetic about this franchise.

I just never understood why people complain about the same shit over and over again knowing full well that nothing is ever going to change.

Seems counterproductive is all.

15 minutes ago, spicoli said:

Lol, I'm not mad about anything in the slightest. Matter of fact, I'm completely apathetic about this franchise.

I just never understood why people complain about the same shit over and over again knowing full well that nothing is ever going to change.

Seems counterproductive is all.

Why do you come here to read it? You take time out of your day to read about a franchise you're completely apathetic about??? Child please. That's horse hockey.

And telling people to stop talking about something for YEARS and they're still talking about it... Seems counterproductive as well. I'm sure Mike Brown cares.

If you truly don't care, leave those of us who do care in peace. Otherwise, quit pissing down my leg and telling me it's raining.

Again, thanks so much for adding something of substance to this discussion.

29 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Why do you come here to read it? You take time out of your day to read about a franchise you're completely apathetic about??? Child please. That's horse hockey.

And telling people to stop talking about something for YEARS and they're still talking about it... Seems counterproductive as well. I'm sure Mike Brown cares.

If you truly don't care, leave those of us who do care in peace. Otherwise, quit pissing down my leg and telling me it's raining.

Again, thanks so much for adding something of substance to this discussion.

Again, I’m not telling anyone not to talk about what they want…I’m just wondering, what’s the point of it all? It’s clear the Bengals couldn’t possibly care any less about the feelings of the fan base, so what is all the hand wringing accomplishing, exactly?

Not bitching, just truly curious 🤷‍♂️

Also, what exactly is there to add to the conversation at this point? Everything has been regurgitated over and over again for years.

33 minutes ago, spicoli said:

Lol, I'm not mad about anything in the slightest. Matter of fact, I'm completely apathetic about this franchise.

I just never understood why people complain about the same shit over and over again knowing full well that nothing is ever going to change.

Seems counterproductive is all.

4 minutes ago, spicoli said:

Again, I’m not telling anyone not to talk about what they want…I’m just wondering, what’s the point of it all? It’s clear the Bengals couldn’t possibly care any less about the feelings of the fan base, so what is all the hand wringing accomplishing, exactly?

Not bitching, just truly curious 🤷‍♂️

Also, what exactly is there to add to the conversation at this point? Everything has been regurgitated over and over again for years.

Wanna talk chess??

Bitching about bitching about bitching about bitching _{about bitching}

It's a Go-Bengals off-season tradition. Next up we have "this D-tier free agent is really starter material" followed by "this draft pick is an immediate upgrade to average NFL veteran & the league isn't ready". That should put us only 3 short months from "under-performing coach's favorite makes big improvement"

spoiler: the FA is a career backup for a reason & the league will be more than ready for 2026's "Johnny Football" & the coach's favorite will disappear at kickoff

but cheer up! only 2 months 'til Opening Day for the Reds!

23 minutes ago, spicoli said:

Again, I’m not telling anyone not to talk about what they wan…I’m just wondering, what’s the point of it all? It’s clear the Bengals couldn’t possibly care any less about the feelings of the fan base, so what is all the bitching accomplishing, exactly?

Not bitching, just truly curious 🤷‍♂️

So... Because Mike Brown doesn't care, there's no point in talking about it...

But then what is the point of READING it?

Let me ask you the reverse question... What conversation would accomplish anything? Does Go's sycophantic knob slobbing achieve anything? Does your endless posting of Mock Drafts mean anything since Duke doesn't care? Does your praise for Myles Murphy do anything if Mike Brown doesn't care?

But it's a good thing you're here to remind people that we don't care about Nick Scott. I mean, that is an astute football observation that is really going to stick with me. Geez, you tell me to stop talking on an almost weekly basis when you aren't banned.

It's real interesting looking down your post history to see what is and isn't acceptable for discussion. I guess you think Mike Brown DOES care about your preferred draft picks and who you think should be the next offensive coordinator? I mean, that's why you have 8 thousand posts on here? 8 thousand posts about a subject you have "complete apathy" for. 3 pages of posts since the start of the year. For a subject you have complete apathy for. 🤣

No one CARES that you don't care, so there's no point in posting it on a weekly basis. Until you can figure that out, I'll kindly ignore your demands that I stop talking about Bengals Football on a Bengals Football message board. What is the point in you constantly posting the same whiny "no one cares" over and over again? Not only does Mike Brown not give a crap, no one on this board actually reading your salty treats gives a crap either. And you're no less whiny with your "I don't even care"... You're just apathetic, disingenuous and whiny - which is twice as bad in my book.

So, what does YOUR bitching accomplish exactly other than hijacking threads and telling other posters what you deem to be acceptable conversation? "Not bitching, just truly curious 🤷‍♂️"

28 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

So... Because Mike Brown doesn't care, there's no point in talking about it...

But then what is the point of READING it?

Let me ask you the reverse question... What conversation would accomplish anything? Does Go's sycophantic knob slobbing achieve anything? Does your endless posting of Mock Drafts mean anything since Duke doesn't care? Does your praise for Myles Murphy do anything if Mike Brown doesn't care?

But it's a good thing you're here to remind people that we don't care about Nick Scott. I mean, that is an astute football observation that is really going to stick with me. Geez, you tell me to stop talking on an almost weekly basis when you aren't banned.

It's real interesting looking down your post history to see what is and isn't acceptable for discussion. I guess you think Mike Brown DOES care about your preferred draft picks and who you think should be the next offensive coordinator? I mean, that's why you have 8 thousand posts on here? 8 thousand posts about a subject you have "complete apathy" for. 3 pages of posts since the start of the year. For a subject you have complete apathy for. 🤣

No one CARES that you don't care, so there's no point in posting it on a weekly basis. Until you can figure that out, I'll kindly ignore your demands that I stop talking about Bengals Football on a Bengals Football message board. What is the point in you constantly posting the same whiny "no one cares" over and over again? Not only does Mike Brown not give a crap, no one on this board actually reading your salty treats gives a crap either. And you're no less whiny with your "I don't even care"... You're just apathetic, disingenuous and whiny - which is twice as bad in my book.

So, what does YOUR bitching accomplish exactly other than hijacking threads and telling other posters what you deem to be acceptable conversation? "Not bitching, just truly curious 🤷‍♂️"

Aww you poor thing. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, little buddy ⭐️

11 minutes ago, spicoli said:

Aww you poor thing. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, little buddy ⭐️

Raising the level of discourse here on a daily basis. You must be proud of yourself.

1 hour ago, T-Dub said:

Bitching about bitching about bitching about bitching _{about bitching}

It's a Go-Bengals off-season tradition.

I'm just as tired of it.

Now we just need to get to the point where I pout and delete my post history.