Stripes

Oh fuck off. Set all these agents on fire.

The moral of the story is to play in the Super Bowl every year so it's only a 2.5 month wait. Missing the playoffs makes it significantly worse.

That would be a genuine improvement. I'd rather the logo celebrate the name of the city than the arbitrary animal chosen to represent the team.

The B needs to go, but I think I hate that polyhedron screaming tiger logo. It just looks bad to me.

I'd arbitrarily guess the probability of each position being the first round pick: OT > DT > [TE***] > CB > WR > DE > IOL > other ***only if Bowers is there I don't consider all of those true "needs", but the Bengals have shown a willingness to draft certain position groups highly regardless of need. And I am usually fine with that.

I’m glad Adomitis has worked out so far. Clark Harris had deceptively large shoes to fill. We all remember the Brad St. Louis Catastrophe of 2009.

I might shamelessly steal that one.

I'm not entirely sure about him anyway. He's likely to enter the league well above playing weight.

I didn't even think of the possibility of replacing the B. I doubt it, but I'd love it. Bring back the pouncing tiger.

Turf. It’s a topic of minor controversy.

The new kickoff theoretically curtails injuries by restricting the momentum of collisions (with dramatically less space between teams). I like that change. The touchback festival was pointless.

While I think this would be a great year to trade up, I suspect 1) the Bengals won't, because they nearly never do, and 2) not for a wide receiver. I admit to at least a little Brock Bowers thirst. Or choosing an absolute favorite OT and trading up to get him with one of those thirds (and whatever else needed, within reason) instead of settling for whoever is there at 18. Whatever though, I'll live when they do that.

I just took a stroll down memory lane. The Bengals OL draft picks over the last ten drafts: 2014 Russell Bodine (4) - woof 2015 Cedric Ogbuehi (1) - *gouges out eyeballs, screaming* Jake Fisher (2) - woof 2016 Christian Westerman (5) - whatever 2017 None 2018 Billy Price (1) - woof Rod Taylor (7) - who? 2019 Jonah Williams (1) - okay Michael Jordan (4) - woof 2020 Hakeem Adeniji (6) - "good value" (bad player) 2021 Jackson Carman (2) - woof D'Ante Smith (4) - whatever Trey Hill (6) - woof 2022 Cordell Volson (4) - TBD, meh 2023 None Hard to say it's "abominable" without more contextualizing (i.e., how does it compare with leaguewide trends), but it sure looks bad. Paul Alexander, Jim Turner, and Frank Pollack have all participated.

I might go with Whitworth and that one great year of Moobs. But it’s definitely progress. Keep his ass on the field. Make him sleep in bubble wrap.

I’m more comfortable with Trent Brown on the roster than I was without him. I hope they get much better at drafting OL starting yesterday though.

Trent Brown’s injury history is also terrible, so who knows.

I need him to demonstrate that he can throw a football at an NFL level before I get too worried.

I'm not sure there's a Bengals equivalent to "trade for Justin Fields" that makes any sense right now lol

Meanwhile... Gesicki - Hudson - Sample is the best-looking tight end room I can remember since the healthy Tyler Eifert era.

I'm torn on Becton. 1. I think the criticism of his performance is probably a bit overblown given that his worst play has come immediately following injury (and he was protecting the dumbest QB I have ever seen). 2. That said, following injury isn't a good trend either. I also think "he was at his best with Frank Pollack" reeks of chugging the Kool Aid and probably makes little difference. So if it happens, I will just hope for the best. High ceiling, low floor.

Just wait until Hoosier has to add a ten figure contract for TJ’s gramma.

I don’t really view Mixon-for-Moss as a downgrade. I’m good with that.

Tart is definitely a downgrade from Reader (at least the version of Reader we had come to know, his injuries might have become a serious issue). Still, they need to get that deal done and fill the void. Can't be letting the trenches disintegrate in this division.

Reader to the Lions is official.

Mekhi Becton is visiting tomorrow.