Changing Things With Free Agents / Draft

[ArmyBengal]

So this will give me an opportunity to talk about something in football I love even while acknowledging they need coaching changes for it to work.

There was a question on ESPN about what Bengals free agents stay and which ones go ??  Here's my take...

Gone:
DE Michael Johnson- He's not as good and we have replacements.  Spend the money elsewhere.
OT Cedric Ogbuehi- Does this need explanation ??
OT Jake Fisher- Does this need explanation ??
OT Bobby Hart- This shouldn't need explanation, but that dude is a steady source of suck.
CB Darqueze Dennard-  Please don't pay him like they paid Kirkpatrick !!!
TE Tyler Kroft- I think he's the odd man out and they draft another TE.

Stay:
TE CJ Uzomah-  I think he's earned the backup role at a minimum.
TE Tyler Eifert- If he's cheaper than this year (see 3 million) and contract is incentive laden for injuries, bring him back.  Still have to draft a TE.
LB Preston Brown- They won't get rid of them all and he's probably the best of a bad group.
LB Vincent Rey- At least he's a special team guy, but he's not a started by any stretch.

There are others mixed in there I don't really care about like Tom Savage and Andre Smith.  There are however, two restricted guys that make a difference.
I think both Alex Redmond and Trey Hopkins should return in backup roles, but not paid as starters.

Then there's free agency (I know) and the draft.  I think they really need to target some guys in free agency for the o-line and LB corps at a minimum.
I think they also need to go O-Line in the 1st, LB in the 2nd, and another O-lineman in the 3rd.  Somewhere after that, a TE, CB, and some other fillers.

If they aren't making any coaching moves, at least make a better effort in free agency and the draft.

 

[kingwilly]

On 12/28/2018 at 8:17 AM, ArmyBengal said:

So this will give me an opportunity to talk about something in football I love even while acknowledging they need coaching changes for it to work.

There was a question on ESPN about what Bengals free agents stay and which ones go ??  Here's my take...

Gone:
DE Michael Johnson- He's not as good and we have replacements.  Spend the money elsewhere.
OT Cedric Ogbuehi- Does this need explanation ??
OT Jake Fisher- Does this need explanation ??
OT Bobby Hart- This shouldn't need explanation, but that dude is a steady source of suck.
CB Darqueze Dennard-  Please don't pay him like they paid Kirkpatrick !!!
TE Tyler Kroft- I think he's the odd man out and they draft another TE.

Stay:
TE CJ Uzomah-  I think he's earned the backup role at a minimum.
TE Tyler Eifert- If he's cheaper than this year (see 3 million) and contract is incentive laden for injuries, bring him back.  Still have to draft a TE.
LB Preston Brown- They won't get rid of them all and he's probably the best of a bad group.
LB Vincent Rey- At least he's a special team guy, but he's not a started by any stretch.

There are others mixed in there I don't really care about like Tom Savage and Andre Smith.  There are however, two restricted guys that make a difference.
I think both Alex Redmond and Trey Hopkins should return in backup roles, but not paid as starters.

Then there's free agency (I know) and the draft.  I think they really need to target some guys in free agency for the o-line and LB corps at a minimum.
I think they also need to go O-Line in the 1st, LB in the 2nd, and another O-lineman in the 3rd.  Somewhere after that, a TE, CB, and some other fillers.

If they aren't making any coaching moves, at least make a better effort in free agency and the draft.

 

I wholly agree. I’d like them to look at a big arm qb 

[cincyhokie]

The Bengals have backed themselves into a corner. If they keep Melvin they do have to do something to sell this fanbase. I don't care what it looks like from the outside, they care about season tickets. There's marketing all year about selling tickets and in the letter to fans they make note of the reasons you would want to get on board for the next season.

Should they keep Melvin, they will HAVE to rebuild the O-line and the LB corps. Period. They need to do that anyway, but they had bette double down on player acquisition if they have any chance of selling this 2019 team. I do think there's a good base of talent to build around. But they need to get at least 3-4 impact players on OL and in the LB slots. They also need to retool the depth on this team. It sucks ass. I don't want to hear about injuries and excuses AGAIN for another year. Maybe even looking at their training staff.

Now all of that leads me to Melvin again. Should they keep him, what are the chances that he actually PLAYS the new players they bring on? Can he put the best guys on the field? Can he stop playing favorites? Chances are slim.

[ArmyBengal]

Well we are picking #11.

Time to ramp up the “Who do we draft” talk...

[ArmyBengal]

Let me throw a name into the mix at #11 to consider:

Devin White, MLB, LSU

From what I've seen, this is yet another year where the o-line class is thought to be less than stellar.
There are a couple other guys like Jawaan Taylor, OT, Florida but they are thought to be gone by #11.
If not, that's a no brainer for Taylor in my opinion.

[ArmyBengal]

Speaking of the draft. 

Mike Mayock was hired as the Raiders GM.
Didn't see that one coming...

[COB]

Agreed, strange hire.  Weak minded owners in various pro sports sometimes do this.  They listen to the media guys who have all the answers, then go out and hire one of them.  Only to discover they don’t have the answers.

The Ford family comes to mind.  They listened to Matt Millen babble on tv for years, then hired him as their GM.  Baseball teams do it once in a while, too.  They’ll hire the team’s broadcaster because the owner has been listening to them call games and they seem so smart.  

[Stripes]

I want a QB.  Trade up if necessary.

[ArmyBengal]

I hate this QB class.  I honestly don't know if hate is a strong enough word to use.

[Scottishbengal]

On 31/12/2018 at 8:38 PM, ArmyBengal said:

I hate this QB class.  I honestly don't know if hate is a strong enough word to use.

Is Driskell a competent enough back-up? If not, then is there a draftee QB to take the 2nd string spot??

I think the Bengals will stick with Driskell as back-up especially now that he has some starts under his belt.

Oh how the McCarron situation has continued to kick us in the nads

[ArmyBengal]

McCarron is under contract with the Raiders for 2019, but if he gets cut, I would have zero issues with him coming back.

That being said, I'm sure they could find someone in the draft better than Driskel, but that's not saying much.
The new head coach will hopefully have more say in what that looks like.

I've seen a bunch of mocks to this point and most only have 2 QB's going in the first round.
One is Haskins from Ohio State, which even as a Buckeyes fan I can't say I love in the NFL.
The other is Lock from Missouri who is said to be a quiet dork.  No thank you.

I would rather not see them use anything above a 5th rounder for a backup when considering our needs.
Give me 2 o-linemen and 2 new LB's before a backup QB.  Hell you can throw in a TE and CB as well.

Basically, if they aren't replacing Dalton, which I don't think they will this year.... then don't bother.

 

[Scottishbengal]

2 hours ago, ArmyBengal said:

Give me 2 o-linemen and 2 new LB's.  Hell you can throw in a TE and CB as well

I'm all onboard with that ship

[ArmyBengal]

Now if they can manage at least one o-linemen in free agency, one better than Bobby Hart, that would be a nice start.
Overpay if you have to, just get a starting RT or even RG if Westerman won't get snaps for some odd reason.

ANYTHING that frees up the draft will be a plus.  Not sure about comp picks yet, but it looks like we only have an extra 6th at this point.
I checked and whatever comp picks we get, they will be late rounders.
 

[volcom69]

Anything is better then Redman as well, they finally yanked him last game for Westerman, only took them all season!

[ArmyBengal]

And here's the three 6th round comp picks which are being projected:

https://overthecap.com/projecting-the-2019-compensatory-picks/

[COB]

2 hours ago, ArmyBengal said:

And here's the three 6th round comp picks which are being projected:

https://overthecap.com/projecting-the-2019-compensatory-picks/

New England is getting a 3rd round pick for Butler, after they basically ran him off.  

[AMPHAR]

I swear the Bengals have gotten multiple compensatory picks for Andre Smith and he’s still here, lol

[ArmyBengal]

So there are two Linebackers I would have zero problems with at #11, although there are no guarantees they make it that far:

Josh Allen, OLB/ILB, Kentucky (6'4, 250lbs, 4.6)
Devin White, ILB, LSU (6'2, 236, 4.6)

If both of them are gone, I think the pick should be an OT.  I don't care if he was a LT or RT in college.

Jawaan Taylor, OT, Florida (6'5, 340lbs)  Probably gone before #11.
Jonah Williams, OT, Alabama (6'5, 302lbs)
Greg Little, OT, Mississippi (6'6, 325lbs)

To be honest, it could be argued that OT should be the pick and not a LB.  I would have no problems with that either.
Wish I could just go ahead and pick one from each group for the Bengals.

[TJJackson]

First two picks should be OLT and linebacker, not necessarily in that order I want an OLT rather than a ORT because I dont think Cordy has much left in him and said rookie can play ORT until Cordy is done - probably sooner rather than later

I dont think we have a linebacker at any of the three spots that'd I'd say is starting quality (I think Burfict is done), and so I really dont care whether he is inside or outside as long as he has (in this day and age of pass-crazy offenses) good coverage ability

we need at least one more LB and one more OL from the remaining rounds, as well as a 3 down TE, coverage corner, and a developmental QB (again)

I think Westerman is your ORG going forward, and I am hoping they can bring in a veteran ORT, just need an average guy, would be a huge upgrade from Hart

[ArmyBengal]

The needs we have is exactly why I want to see them be more active than usual in free agency (see nothing or bottom feeders).

If Preston Brown is healthy, I'm good with him at MLB next season.  He's only going to be turning 27 this year, so he's plenty young.
However, we need two LB's for either side of him.  Again, give me 1 in the draft and 1 in free agency.

This marks the 2nd offseason most people think Westerman should be the starting RG and every time he gets a chance, he shows why.
Then, for reasons unknown to everyone else in the universe, he takes the bench while a player of lesser ability plays.
I have no idea what the coaches have been thinking regarding Westerman and have no idea what to expect moving forward.

Two impact free agents (Average would = impact) and a solid draft would really make a huge difference for this team.

[AMPHAR]

Mock drafts have a lot D-line players/edge players in top 10.

With a couple tackles.

Bengals could get a top tackle land in their laps. 

[ArmyBengal]

With all the teams there are in need of o-line help, coupled with the thought of this being another weak o-line class, I would expect some movement to grab an O-lineman if they get far enough.

Looking at the 5 teams picking behind us, almost any could justify a small move up to get their guy and help their o-line out.
I think that increases in odds when considering they all know the Bengals o-line is a half bag of fuck.
I also think teams will be reaching for o-linemen in the first as well.

I haven't looked much beyond the first at this point, but will be soon.

[Scottishbengal]

Bucky Brooks has mocked the Bengals taking Cody Ford (OL out of Oklahoma) at No.11

As with all college players I have no idea about this guy hence throwing it out to the 'Zoners for comment/discussion

[COB]

Just a really funny little blurb about Jerry Jones at the Senior Bowl this week.  He reminisced about his early days there.  I’ll excerpt one paragraph below.

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/01/25/jerry-jones-gets-emotional-talking-about-being-in-mobile/

“I’ll never forget the first morning that I was here in Mobile. We had a staff meeting. We had our entire coaching staff. Jimmy Johnson was our coach. We had the entire scouting staff. And it probably was in excess of 35-40, and it could’ve been — counting pilots and all — it could’ve been 45 people. Well, Mike Brown of the Cincinnati Bengals — my good friend — came up and he had his staff of three. And he asked me — and I’d been in the league. This was February, that I’d bought into the league. And he said ‘Are you enjoying this?’ And I said ‘This is the greatest thrill I’ve had to date.’ And he said ‘Well, I hope you are, because you don’t need 50 people to scout this place.’”

[ShulaSteakhouse]

On 1/22/2019 at 2:12 PM, Scottishbengal said:

Bucky Brooks has mocked the Bengals taking Cody Ford (OL out of Oklahoma) at No.11

As with all college players I have no idea about this guy hence throwing it out to the 'Zoners for comment/discussion

Better than any o-line player on their current roster at the position.  This pick probably assumes White and Williams are not there, and that they have him ranked that high (very possible).  McShay has the Skins taking him at #6.   It's more likely the Bengals' will be faced with one of the top 3-4 over-all defensive players and will need to make a tough pick.  It seems like they never get a great opportunity in the 1st round, such as a Devin White or Jonah Williams falling to them this year...or even Ford.

It's quite possible one of the 3 will be there - I'd take whichever one is at this point, but that can always change obviously, pre-combine/workouts.