ArmyBengal

I get how Lou uses linebackers and my calling for one in the draft goes unanswered because of that. My concern, as with any position group, is injuries. They are one ding away from running on fumes with that group.

Not sure if anyone saw it or not, but Bengals free agent LB Markus Bailey signed with the Cardinals. While not the be all, end of of player losses, but he was a big special teams guy and depth at the linebacker position. Yes, they drafted players that will certainly be getting opportunities playing special teams, but the depth at linebacker is a little bit of a hit I would have rather not been concerned about. I know I tend to focus on linebackers more than most, but here is the current depth chart at the position. Wilson, Pratt and ADG are the starters. Bachie, Harper and Heyward are the backups. Go figure here I am commenting about my concerns with this group. If I had my way, they would be looking at linebackers that get released along the way.

For awareness, Tyler Boyd signed with the Titans and is back with Brian Callahan. Too bad we play the Titans on the road this year. Would be cool to have him recognized here in Cincinnati. Wish him the best of luck, except when they play us !!!

Allow me to come back to this for a quick minute. I was watching the never ending coverage of how Burrow can now tie shoes, which will lead us back to the Super Bowl and noticed something... Mike Gesicki is one big fucker !!! 6'6, 250lbs big. I like that signing very much and if everyone is able to stay healthy, I expect him to have a pretty big impact on the offense this year. Add in the other TE's in that room and that looks to be a pretty strong position group. Really looking forward to seeing them use Gesicki this year.

It happens from time to time TJ... I consider that a good thing. Funny you mentioned Billy. Just the other day, I stumbled across all the old Bengals games that Billy burned onto CD's and sent to me when I was in Afghanistan. There was like 10 CD's with every playoff game and otherwise meaningful Bengals game in history. I remember having so much fun sitting in the middle of the desert watching those. What a good dude !! He's missed !!

My favorite was, "He's baaaaaaaaack". No shit huh? Was there an option? Did they not expect the QB of the team to throw the football? Is he the best standing around, doing nothing guy in the whole wide world and then BAM, holy fuck he threw a football? It's like watching internet porn. I mean, COB's friend told me. You know when you see the chick with a tight shirt and big tits, what's about to go down. It's not a surprise. Like, holy shit, why is she on her knees? WHAAAAT ?!?!

I was holding out hope they would get Sweat in the 2nd. I was hoping they wouldn't pass on him even with the DUI. He may be a big partier, drink more than he needs, and look like the 2nd coming of cookie dough. However, none of that kept him from becoming a 1st team All-American and winning the Outland Trophy for the best interior defensive lineman, all while playing next to Byron Murphy at Texas, who went in the first round. He might turn out to be a drunken bust, but as always, it only takes one team. It should be interesting to see what he does in Tennessee and what Brian Callahan gets out of him. Jenkins? Yeah, he wasn't my top choice, but if measures up to half of what is said about him, we should be good. I love his attitude as well. Seems like a pretty down to earth kid who really likes to ball. His nickname at Michigan was the "Mutant". Nice...

I feel you Hoosier, planted 6 new bushes and spread about 60 bags of mulch last weekend. It was an all day affair my back is just now “about” recovered from. Oh, climbed a ladder to pull down leaves that had collected and when I pulled them down, I pulled an ant colony down onto me as well. The ants weren’t happy. Where the fuck was Andre Smith when I needed him most?

My neighbor played with his Dad and Pac Man at West Virginia. The BBQ’s are interesting !! Good people. Rooting for junior !!

Holy Ghosts Batman, talk about spitting out your kid. Without looking at the name at the bottom, tell me who's kid this is... https://www.espn.com/college-football/recruiting/insider/story/_/id/40070413/espn-junior-300-recruiting-five-stars-quarterback-top-prospects

Whenever I hear that now, I can't get Rodney Dangerfield out of my head from the movie Back to School.

Hello darkness, my old friend...

Yeah, I'm on board with that thought. Can never have enough RB's capable of blocking like he is able. That being said, Zack Moss is also known for his blocking as well, so maybe they don't bother?

That was so awesome !!

Couldn’t agree more !!

Don't care. I'm not getting over shit. It's a no. It will get voted for, but when you have a team worth multiple billions, taxpayers shouldn't be on the hook. Should have built a damn dome. I prefer the outdoor games, but a domed stadium vs. what we currently have is night and day. No draft, no possible traveling combine (which is coming), no basketball tournaments, less concerts, less everything. Get rid of whatever they call the Coliseum these days. They will be asking for another $12m in public funds as well. If there is going to be talk about how to put money into the city and actually build the wealth, why not build something that will help achieve that. Open air stadiums will be a thing of the past in decades to come.

I saw the new numbers and Burton gets #81. Would have been cool, since TJ coached him these last few years, to see him in #84, but that went to McClachlan. Guess he will just have to channel his inner Eddie Brown.

Again, while understanding everything impacted by the Bengals being here, I don't give a shit. No chance in hell I will be voting in favor of anything of that sort. Which brings me to my next question. Why is Hamilton County the only county expected to foot the bill somehow? Why not other counties? Why not State funds? Why not the Browns just fucking pay for it themselves? Again, it's a big NO from me. Don't care about the fall out. Bring it.

I like that thought process Stripes. Let me think about it. Had to remember the "relative to the start of last season". QB - no change (Could this be the first year for Burrow to start and end camp without being/getting dinged?) OT - improved (Agree) IOL - no change (Agree) RB - slightly improved (Maybe) WR - slightly worse (Agree, but expecting to end better than last year started) TE - improved (Agree) DE - no change (Agree) DT - worse (Agree, but has the potential to end really well between Rankins and Jenkins) LB - no change (Agree, UGH) CB - no change (There were higher expectations for Awuzie coming back, but it didn't happen) (Dax could help) S - improved (I would say MUCH improved here. Stone, Bell, and Battle along with Anderson and new dude)

I love Steve Smith and his evaluations of WR's, along with the big picture perspective. In the below video, they talk about where the top WR's went and their fit within the team's system. They hit on Burton towards the end. Skip forward to the 1 hour 17 minute mark for their take on Burton with the Bengals. Really good listen from this group and Steve's take on Higgins as well. Some info I never gave thought to. It's a really good watch and Burton gets about 6 minutes of the conversation.

Totally random and has nothing to do with anything being discussed but... FUCK YOU BILLS FANS !!! I just don't like them. That is all.

I'm simply looking at the story at face value. IF the story is true and Higgins is looking for a Michael Pittman deal, my point is that it's not a lot of money in the grand scheme of WR contracts. Higgins is already accounting for nearly $22 million this year. Why would the Bengals think that coming in below that number is reasonable? So is the 700 yards from last season the anomaly or are the multiple 1000 yard seasons? WR top of the market is going to be $30+ million per year. A solid #2 WR is probably right around that $23-$24 million point. That's going to look like a great deal come 2027. The talk of Iosivas or Burton (which I've already seen) taking Higgins spot in 2025 is being shortsighted and over confident. NOW... Does any of that mean they should pay Higgins 23-24 million per season? No, not by any stretch. However, to think something less the $20 million was a reasonable offer is just stupid. Again, this is taking everything at face value.

I have been looking into the guys we drafted a little more and if there is one thing that will hold Burton back from more plays, it's Charlie Jones. I think many people see new WR and automatically pencil him in as the #3 WR. I don't think that's a given by any stretch. If nothing else, Chase, Higgins, Iosivas, Jones and Burton look like a pretty amazing 1-5 to me. Add Irwin to that mix and your WR corps is already set unless they go 7 deep to start the season. Anyone else is simply jockeying for practice squad spots.

Was just reading that the Bengals contract offer to Higgins never approached $20m per year. Higgins, it said, wants something where Pittman’s contact with the Colts is. That contact was 3 years, 70 million. if all of that is to be believed 100%, the Bengals would be stupid to not give him that deal. Hell Pittman’s deal is already a value at this point and over the course of the next three years will be a super bargain. Already know he won’t be here next year, but again, if all that’s true, I’m less pleased. Chase is going to get $30m+ per year.

Yeah, looking forward to at least one extension getting done and maybe another pick up along the way. We will see.