AMPHAR

Yeah I think this division will be competitive enough spots 1-4 that the total number of wins needed will be 10-12. Baltimore with Lamar Jackson seems to be the only team besides the Bengals that could put up that win total IF the Browns are without Watson. Wild Card spots are going to be interesting because the AFC West is probably stronger than the AFC North collectively. So they will beat up on each other but they get the AFC South but also mixed in the NFC West (which is another solid division 1-4). AFC North gets AFC East and NFC South which aren't great.

Mayfield is already talking post Browns. I doubt there will be a reconciliation. The Browns have enough running game fire power with Defense not to totally fade away but Brisset for 17 games severely hurts their chances at division championship

Yes. Absolutely.

IMO, the scribes of the "Mike Brown Sucks" era became dated about when Marvin Lewis beat the undefeated Chiefs. Doc, IMO, did not adjust along with some others and by default their opinion became worthless to me. I could not really point to one thing Doc opined in the past 20 years. I'm sure I read some stuff as that is not really a burdensome activity but his voice/view wasn't one I sought out when the direction of this franchise started to turn.

Burrow is sneaky fast, because his combine and I think pro day were canceled via COViD. Thus the media never-picked up on his 40. Once drafted, I have never heard of a QB being officially timed or people paying attention to it. In the National Championship game I can remember Burrow beating Simmons to a first down. That guy tested fast and was a first round pick.

Eh, Goodell created another avenue of justice for accuser of NFL players aside from criminal and civil cases. That is why you think you know the details to judge Carman. A clear example of why his policies are dumb. Maybe Carman is a bad person. But as far as I know he's not being pursued criminally and there is not a civil case being placed against him. So? They go the Goodell route to see if they can register enough attention to pressure a settlement? Basically makes your players a target AND still throws dirt in the media. Deshaun Watson sounds like a dirt ball. However, Goodell's policy make this a featured subject every morning on everything but NFL controlled NFL network. If he would have set his policies based on actual criminal findings he would be in a better spot. He can't now because he decided back in 2005 to act above those systems. It burns the league each and every time a player does something wrong. That will continue to happen because there are inherent low percentage of dirt balls that can play football.

Then do not even get me started on the player safety bullshit that seemingly has 1 or 2 big game swinging moments every league week. I mean he tried to suspend or did suspend Burfict for a shoulder to shoulder hit in a preseason game that did not even draw a penalty. There is just simply a better way to implement player behavior and safety policies. It would require the owners building a bridge with the players but it does not seem like Goodell would give up the power.

I'm torn. Yes, laugh at the Browns and their dumb decisions. Goodell's behavior policies are a joke and I've said this since the days of our bad bengals. 1st - It makes the players targets. Watson isn't going to be prosecuted criminally. Maybe the player's deserve it, maybe they don't. That is why I do not care about the Carman report that dropped on draft day. These policies give the accusers leverage that the United States legal system says there is not enough evidence or no crime. They can use the loss of paycheck and career. If you remove this leverage would you even hear about this stuff? Which leads to point 2: 2nd - His policies were enacted under the guise of protecting the reputation of the league. They have done the exact opposite. Because the policies punish the players and have direct result on the on field results these thing get 100 times or more the attention. Yeah, I remember all the Browns fan running their mouths about Criminal Bengals back in 2005 or whatever. I remember saying wait your turn. There is just a certain low percentage of dirt ball in the pool of players that ALL teams pick from. Yes, fun to laugh at Watson and the Browns now. But these are bad policies by the league. Every team is at risk no matter how much they want to do back ground checks etc.

Damn tough Day in Baltimore. I loved the Goose and Moose broadcast team on Fox.

Damn. I guess he’ll bump outside as DE.

Ogunjobi is taking a Pittsburgh tour and then I think Balt. Assume he gets snatched up somewhere other than Cincy. Suh is another one I would love to have.

The Bengals are right at the cap in cash spending this year. Projected $207m vs. cap of $208m.

I have said this for a long time: draft terms of categorization like “steal”, “reach and bust should really only apply to the top 32 and reality the top 15. Draft boards vary in the top 15 but by the time you get to 32 there isn’t going to be a clear consensus among 32 different teams so it’s stupid to say a player taken in the 60s was whatever. I think Chase was the biggest steal in 2021 draft and I think Jordan Davis will be the biggest steal in 2022. Bengals got Chase because teams reached for the 2nd and 3rd QBs. It really shouldn’t go very deeper than that.

Nothing is written in stone and I won’t say always, but….. it seems like most years they have two centers. So for Hill to be in “hot water”, who is the other true Center? Not Volson. It’d have to be an epic disaster to see him play center as a rookie. Ben Brown? Maybe. However Tobin values late round picks and he used one on Hill not Brown. Then got comfortable enough to trade Billy Price and have Hill back up a starting Center they cut. In my view to trade away Billy Price and cut your starter before they even acquired Ben Brown tells me he’d have to crush it to beat out Hill. Anything is possible, I guess. With sports gambling becoming legal there’s going to be wrecked families because nobody can handicap shit.

In my mind Adeniji is safe. Pollack played him right off the PUP list. Pollack played him 100% of the snaps in the post season despite some very bad play. No way he cuts him for a UDFA while keeping the guys he chose not to play at RG during the post season. That would be like a WTF are you doing moment for Pollack, IMO. Ben Brown has some center starts in college so maybe back up center, maybe. However if you look at the Centers under Tobin they all seem to be in that 6'3 range. Volson no chance they count on him to back up Center, IMO. Hill will be tough to beat out because they have already demonstrated confidence in him by trading Price.

This would be a Patriots type move. Sign the disgruntled player short term with strong QB personality. Get a great season then move on if it ever goes south. A healthy focused OBJ (if that exists) is the 2nd WR on this team and that's just because Chase will soon be recognized at the top of the league.

I mean I would not sulk about adding OBJ. I would wonder how the chemistry would actually work because the current top 3 could really complain about not getting the ball as much as their talent level demands. But trading out Auden Tate for OBJ, yeah plus there. But Tate couldn't get snaps because of the log jam. Of course when will OBJ actually be ready to play? Late October? November? So you could sign him. PUP list so it doesn't cost you a roster spot. If the Bengals are going to do a deal for someone not currently under contract, I hope its Larry O.

Read on another board Cappa has been wearing two numbers 66 and 65 for media stuff. Apparently Larry O. will have rights to 65 if he would happen to return. I think that would be the best move they could make for an outside FA at this point. I personally think the Steelers have screwed the pooch on Minkah from day 1 when they acquired him. He is a top player at his position, no doubt. But they used too much draft capital to get him and now doubled down on using a significant amount of cap room on him. I think he is a better safety than Bates, but you can still overpay.

Tremain Mack made pro bowl one year as kick returner/teams. I think he may have been one hell of a punt blocker too. I would think Brandon Wilson sticks as kick returner. He has high end ability.

OBJ would be interesting, but I just don’t see how you work him in without pushing another WR out of the top 3. OBJ is a distraction if he’s not getting the ball.

lol, Jessie here is $2 million. Put it on red "9" and then sign your contract offer.

I think the Bengals are going to be highly ranked yardage and scoring. So they OL should benefit perception wise from that. I still expect a higher than normal pressure rate because Joe Burrow don't care about no sack numbers. I think Jonah Williams will be the biggest riser because he has been solid but the rest of line has been bad.... no media member or analyst is going to try to walk that line to praise an LT on a bad line from a team that was picked as a bottom feeder last year.

That is sweet. Boomer made the Season Preview cover after Superbowl 23. Ickey made it after the AFC Championship victory. Have both autographed.

It is a big year for Pollack. His two years with the Bengals have featured bad lines but with bad talent. The Manning Colts were deadly with that stretch run and then running various fakes off of it. It will be interesting to see if the Bengals can develop a bread and butter play like that.

There are rumors that OBJ could end up in Cleveland once Baker is gone. LOL.