ArmyBengal

Jesus help us

There’s always hoping !!

I'll take whatever good news there is to be had about the o-line. As much as I enjoy the preseason, I always take it with a grain of salt. Much like the UDFA linebacker that has been blowing up the preseason, Njongmeta from Wisconsin. You would think he's the next coming of Dick Butkus with all the talk. If he's simply solid depth, that would be a steal in and of itself. That and any more would all be gravy. I like gravy...

He's not touching the field only goes so far. If Chase honestly thinks (I don't think he does) he's going to outlast the Bengals front office, him and his agent obviously aren't aware what team they are dealing with. Please understand, that's not an endorsement of the front office and how they do business. It's them wanting to be cheap for another year they have the ability to do so. While I don't blame them for wanting that, I think it's a mistake in this particular situation. In the most disinterested voice as possible, "just get it done already"...

These jokers have got to clean up the penalties as well. Yeah, preseason, but clean it up.

There were 12 WR’s taken ahead of Burton. Honestly I liked every single one of them. Agree he may suffer from the glut of receiving options at Burrow’s disposal, but he has that ability to really shine in this offense. I still stand by thinking that Gesicki is going to swallow up his fair share of snaps from the slot as well. As much as I loved Boyd, his time was up here. I wish him the best in Tennessee and think he will have a better season there than he would have had here. Well, at least more opportunities. I cannot wait to see this offense in all its glory week one. Just stay healthy men !!

Burton could be the surprise WR this year that surpasses many WR’s drafted ahead of him. I love what he brings.

Now you did it...

Torn Patella Tendon for D. Smith as well. Out for season…

3 year extension. Couldn't be happier for him. Well deserved. Let's go Bengals !!!

Well, that's kind of the problem. D'Ante Smith was the #3 on the official site's depth chart. However, we all know he was carted off the field yesterday as well. If you weren't aware, he was heard "Screaming in pain" on the field and needed an air cast prior to being carted off. I'm not expecting better news on his injury today. So that leaves us with.... DRUM ROLL PLEASE.... Carman, who is currently the #2 LT or Ford, who is currently the #2 RG to get snaps at the RT spot. Well, unless they want to get Kirkland, who is currently the #2 LG or one of the unknowns further down the pecking order. I would rather see Ford get RT snaps, but that's like saying you want Syphilis instead of herpes. One is less painful than the other, but you want don't want anything to do with either.

I would guess about the same if Brown and Mims remain out, in that either Ford or Carman get the start at RT. That fills me with about as much joy and pleasure as getting kicked in the nuts by a mule. With Browning out, it looks like Woodside and whoever is after him getting all the snaps. Just don't play anyone in the first two strings. There's simply no point in risking any more injuries at this point. The o-line depth is "maybe" a step above complete dog shit, but not by much. Looking closer, I think I should have said, a step "below"...

Evans was the 4th string RB at best. Not a huge loss in and of itself, but really sucks for him. Hope he heals up quick. They have a couple of rookie UDFA’s that could get more looks for that spot.

So I love stats as much as the next guy but they don't always paint the appropriate picture either. Take this conversation. If we are solely looking at yards as the measuring stick, I absolutely do not think Chase should be in the Jefferson range for a contract. Maybe just south of that. However, the bigger picture (which there is) paints things differently. For example, in the 3 years Chase has been in the league, he has 29 TD's and has eclipsed Jefferson in that stat in each of his 3 years in the league. With all WR's he was top 5 in 2 of his 3 season for TD's. He has been #5, #7 and #13 for yards per game in each of his 3 seasons as well. Not bad. He's only lost 3 fumbles throughout his career to this point. Yards after the catch. 2 of 3 years in the top 10, with a top 3 finish his rookie year. Then there's the postseason. That's a huge measuring stick when handing out career honors like the Hall of Fame. Chase has nearly 600 yards and 3 post season TD's. Not huge, but Jefferson has zero. Also, as Stripes indicated Chase has played in an offense loaded full of pass catching talent. He has done that despite those weapons. Jefferson, until Addison, has been the sole source of targets for the most part. Oddly enough, Addison had more TD's than Jefferson last year. Chase is deserving of top end money and they should pay him.

Again, regardless of what happens, Chase will be in the starting line up come week one. Hopefully, he and Burrow are still finding time to pass and catch together even if away from practice. I don't think there's any good reason to NOT extend Chase. The guy is clearly a top end talent and you don't draft a guy that high, get the production you expect when investing the draft capital in him, and then let him walk away. Him leaving would not only impact the offense as a whole, but my bigger concern would be how would that impact Burrow's thoughts. He would give the good team answer, but I think that would piss him off pretty good. Why do that? They are an elite combo.

Looks like Gunter is walking away from football. Not sure his spot was secure anyway, but depth is depth. Best of luck to him !!

When the top guys are near or at $30m per year and Chase expecting that, that's 3 years and a potential windfall of $90m. Talking about $50m isn't exactly something I'd be thrilled with either. You know, if I were a top end NFL player. Since I'm not, I really like Hamburger Helper !!

Agreed about the o-line. Like I said as well, Kirkland remaining healthy would be more of a shocker than anything. His potential has always been there, but I will play the doubting Thomas until he makes the team and stays healthy. No hype there, so no disappointment when it doesn't happen. Yeah, I don't really have much to say about Chase either. I have no idea and to be honest, I kind of like it that way. No talk from the team, no talk from the player, no talk from the agent. He's at practices, so it's not like he's just absent. If we find out he got an extension before the start of the season then great. If not, great. Either way he isn't going anywhere. I guess my only real take is that paying him a tick above $1 million for 2024 is absurd. However, if players make first round money and suck, no one is coming after them to give money back. That would be unheard of. If the Bengals could recoup some of the "suckage money" from failed picks, they'd be set. Just sign Chase...

All I know is this Ja’Marr Chase kid is pretty good and I’d like him to stick around. Maybe cut Carman, give that nearly two million to Chase for this year with a guarantee his long term deal will come after 2024. That might be far fetched and probably speaks more to my dislike for Carman. Still…

It shouldn't surprise anyone that Kirkland has the capability of having a great camp, as has been reported. What would surprise me is him having a healthy camp that lasts into the regular season. Once upon a time the thought was he was a first round talent at the OT position when injuries hit. Unfortunately for him, the injuries kept taking shots at him when he was already down. He fell to undrafted status and has not been able to work his way to a backup spot, let alone starter. I'm rooting like hell for him though because if he stays healthy, he's probably better than some of the guys ahead of him. The only fans that should bitch about the preseason are the ones buying season tickets. They get charged full price and basically have to give them away if they can't go. I love the preseason. My son and I got tickets for us to go to the two home preseason games for cheaper than parking for one game. You get to watch the backups and young guys who might not otherwise get many snaps during the regular season. Hang out at the stadium and watch a game not caring if your team wins or loses. I'm good with that !!

For what it's worth, Coach Zac said Mims' injury was an "Extremely Minor Setback". He could also be ready come week 1, so I'm good with resting him for the last two preseason games. If I read things correctly, he got 15 snaps with 12 of those coming on the opening TD drive with the first team. Also of note, NONE of the starters will be playing in the upcoming Bears game and are an unknown in the last preseason game. I wouldn't mind seeing the starters get another drive under their belt before the week one home opener.

I thought the Bengals showed some interest in Tart, but at this point, I think he's about done. If we sign him due to injuries and helps until they get healthy, I guess you have to do something, but wouldn't be thrilled.

I like Mims and will hold out hope he heals fast. The team continues to both draft and sign free agent o-linemen and I won't fault them for that. I didn't like Fautanu, who went to the Steelers. The next o-lineman was Jordan Morgan at #25 and he was coming back from injuries as well. Barton was a center at 26 and then Guyton went to the Cowboys at 29. He was the guy I liked and thought the Bengals may have wanted in a trade down scenario. He seems to be doing well so far in Cowboys camp. I also was hoping against hope that Jackson-Powers fell to us in the 2nd round, but missed us by 5 picks. There was then a small run on OT's at the end of the 2nd, but no one I was head over heels about either.

Now all they need to do is move forward with the inverted helmet colors. They would have total orange, white and black uniform combos. Make it happen Bengals !!

If only they didn’t have to pay for their own Gatorade…