ArmyBengal

So it appears the Bengals made an offer (which was turned down) to CB Kristian Fulton. He ended up signing a one year deal with the Chargers. Mike Hilton is on the recruiting trail telling CB Xavien Howard he should join the Bengals. Howard wants to play for a contender and is willing to take a pay cut. He’s getting older and came off an injury from last season, but if healthy, could provide some solid depth to the secondary. Worth a look…

SHIT SHIT SHIT !! We lost Nick Scott to the Panthers. WTF !?!? Oh wait, he sucks. Never mind…

I like yours Hoosier and honestly think Sweat from Texas, despite his poor athleticism scores, is the big run stuffer they would be wanting. The one from Dehner ?? I pretty much hate. Fuaga is good. I have no problem with Roman Wilson, but we have 2-3 of him on the roster already. I'm a Buckeyes fan and watched all of their games and I don't like Hall. No. Melton would be ok depending on who else was on the board. The rest are throw away picks to me, minus maybe the punter from Iowa.

That may be the case AMPHAR and do not necessarily disagree with that line of thought. There are a couple of things I think about when looking at the OT position. Yes, the signed Trent Brown, but they only signed him to a 1 year deal and added him to the growing list (+30) of 2025 free agents. When looking at the trends of 1st round OT's struggling their first year, maybe a year of learning is what the Bengals want? When it comes to taking a lower ranked OT, I think it depends on whose evaluations and ratings we are talking about. Obviously, we have no idea about the only one that matters and that's the Bengals. That being said, when looking at mocks, I have consistently seen 8-9 OT names taken in the first round. Those names interchange and I'm not suggesting 9 OT's go in the first round, only what I have seen for a couple of months. For example, I personally think if JC Latham is on the board at #18, the Bengals would be foolish not to pick him at that spot. However, I have seen two outlets recently which have him rated as the 6th best OT in the draft behind Mims. Now, I don't agree with that thought, but we just never know. There's always a player, two, or more that drop for some reason. I can't wait to watch it unfold in 4 weeks though !!

Boyd's asking price is $8 million per year, which I don't think is an unreasonable ask, all things considered. He had a down year last year. Well, so did everyone else for the most part. I wouldn't let 2023 form my opinion.

I know I use to harp on linebackers for years and have backed off over the last couple. This year we again, have Wilson, Pratt and ADG in the 1-3 roles. However, we only have Heyward and Harper as backups. Couple that with ADG and Heyward (who I'm not even sure if he's gotten snaps) both as free agents next year. They could easily take a LB this year as well, which is a position not being discussed at all. God help that position group if injuries hit the starters. That closet is BARE !!

Honestly, I could see them going a few different routes AND AS ALWAYS, it depends on who else is on the board. Legette in the 3rd was a product of the players available in a position of need presented as fairly large reaches, which I don't want to see them do at that point. Who knows what happens with Tee, this year and next and Legette, if nothing else, would push 2-3 WR's off the depth chart from day 1, not to mention all 3 back of the roster guys are free agents next season. Getting Jaylen Wright at pick #149, would be a massive steal and I'm never about improving the roster. After Brown and Moss, you have Williams, who I have never held any affinity for, could be replaced with relative ease in my opinion. When considering both Williams and Evans are free agents next year, along with the other 34 players, there will be picks made this year to make next year's numbers not be so challenging. Again though, I expect Wright to be long gone before that pick. Honestly, I don't like this QB class very much at all and that includes the top of the draft guys as well. Another DT wouldn't surprise me for the same reasons I gave about all the free agents next year. At the DT position alone, there are 4 next year (Hill, Tufele, Davis and Sample). There just wasn't anyone on the board that I could justify using a pick on when considering the others that were there. Like I said though, nothing would really surprise me after the first couple picks.

And yet another Higgins trade scenario: 4) Cincinnati Bengals (from ARI): Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Ohio State Trade: The Bengals receive the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft; the Cardinals receive WR Tee Higgins, the 18th overall pick, and the Bengals’ 2025 first-round pick.

Playing around with the mock drafts again, as I so enjoy doing and had this drop in my lap. #18. - JC Latham, OT, Alabama #49. - Byron Murphy, DT, Texas #80. - Xavier Legette, WR, South Carolina #97. - Cade Stover, TE, Ohio State #116. - Brandon Coleman, OG, TCU #149. - Jaylen Wright, RB, Tennessee #194. - Elijah Jones, CB, Boston College #214. - Ryan Rehkow, P, BYU 7th round... who cares ?? Can I just send that to the Bengals now?

Switching gears, if anyone saw the breakdown of Zack Moss from Joe Goodberry, he shows off his pass blocking skills. The fact it was against the Ravens and showed him stonewalling Patrick, Smith and Clowney is pretty impressive. I really like that pickup and still think Chase Brown is going to be pretty involved as well.

Yeah, I took my Geritol and calmed down a bit since yesterday. I will acknowledge the Bengals had to do something and Brown is that. Again, I don't care much about the PFF scores for much of what AMPHAR mentioned. I look at them periodically to see if what they say and what I see are in sync, but they do not help form an entire opinion. If that's all someone using to make an argument, that's really short sighted. I did do a little more digging and found a NextGen stat (I like those) that piqued my interest greatly. "Trent Brown found himself in 1 on 1 situations on 88.3% of his pass blocking snaps last season, the highest among left tackles (min. 300 pass blocking snaps). Brown allowed pressure on just 7.1% of those snaps, the 2nd lowest rate among left tackles." Additional to that, when looking at LT's being left alone for passing plays, with no help the most frequently last season, Trent Brown was #1 at 72.9% of the time. I will glean from that, a trust in the player to do his job and him doing just that. So again, I calmed down a bit. I will wish him luck, because god knows we will need some.

Yeah I did say what I wanted. Trent Brown = Shitbag If he proves me wrong, great !! I will be happy about it. Right now? I’m not going to pretend how great this is simply because we have no one else. If that’s what people want to do, I can have the opinion they are wrong as well. I’m not mad at anyone here because the Bengals were stupid enough to sign this clown. Go prove me wrong Trent. I won’t be holding my breath.

If he’s worth $60m, Higgins should hold out for $100m.

Trent Brown sucks ass and I'm not looking forward to seeing him in a Bengals uniform. BOOOOOOO !! If the o-line ends up sucking again this year, people are going to say, well what did you want Pollack to do, he was handed Trent Brown at RT. However, hope springs eternal and all that shit. This dude is straight ass.

Of course he is. Not happy unless he's sitting the bench. Not really even then. Yes, we needed a vet OT. I guess we did that. Honestly, I don't even want to root for that guy.

I am not a huge fan of PFF by and large. The inconsistency I was speaking about was more about what you get out of the guy on the field. I've watched him play and he's not a consistently solid NFL OT. Becton at least has an injury excuse. Brown, much like Tart, has motivation and head issues I'd rather not introduce into this locker room. I would just find it hard to believe Zac would want to bring in someone like that in a culture he has spent so many years cultivating. I would MUCH rather take an OT at #18 and insert him as the starter day one. Don't dick around, don't waffle with some inconsistent veteran player, draft him, train him and get him as ready to start day 1 right from the jump. Finally, roll with what you've got. There will be issues, but the hope would be that those issues are correctable with a rookie. People already know how the story ends with Brown. Yes, draft two OT's if you need to.

Maybe the Cleveland dysfunction is contagious.

I don’t like the thought of Trent Brown either. While he has had some good, it’s been mixed with a lot of inconsistency. I would rather take my chances with Becton’s knees.

James Rapien chimed in on this deal but had the Bengals sending not only Tee and #18, but their second rounder to the Giants for #6 as well. No Thank You !! To top that off, he has us taking Odunze at #6. How the hell does giving up Tee and two pick and then going WR help at either RT or DT? Dumbest shit ever !!

That's right, that's right. Thanks.

Hard to say what they do with Fields. There are a few options. 1. Pick up the option to retain his rights for 2025. 2. Trade him after the draft this year because some team missed out on QB. 3. Maybe trade him before the trade deadline if another team's QB goes down. I know if a team picks up the 5th year option, the player's salary is fully guaranteed. Not sure what the options are if the team picks up the option and then wanted to trade him. Anyone?

Yeah, that was my point as well. Low cost, low risk, good veteran leadership in the locker room and dependable if needed. God knows injuries happen. Agree with the thought of the competition being higher this year as well. Yes, Gesicki is a TE, but he can and has operated out of the slot. On top of that, Chuck Sizzle will be healthy and into his 2nd season. Iosivas is going to get his chances as well, but that would be into our 5th and 6th WR's at that point. Slim pickins. Nice problem to have !!

I wouldn't mind having Boyd back on a 1 year lower cost deal if things don't work out for him elsewhere. Nothing would please me more than seeing the trio of Chase, Higgins and Boyd earn a ring.

So here’s another one regarding Tee I saw: Would you send Higgins to the Giants and move from #18 to #6 this year and the Giants 2nd round pick next year? I like it theory, but that creates another hole that an extra pick this year could be used towards.

I just plan on winning the Super Bowl. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. I will say this though, it’s nice heading into the season knowing that’s a real possibility. I’m happy it’s no longer the 90’s where there is no shot of that happening before they take the field.