ArmyBengal

No to public funding. We are already taxed too much. I will simply watch other teams on Sunday. I will stand willingly and smile as I wave goodbye...

ONE MORE DAY !! I’ve been in DC this week but my flight should allow enough time for me to get home by start time !! Hell yeah !!

Never mind... the NFL isn't going to make a decision this week. UGH

If either of those two drop to us at #18, I would be really hesitant. One, I don't like Latu's medicals, although he's a great players and two, I don't like Verse. Couple that with taking a DE in the first last year and I'm not in favor. Maybe a DE later on, but not in the first. Just me, but I understand the thought if they decide to do that.

Yep, pretty much scratch QB from the draft board.

What am I currently rooting for? I read there's a possibility that due to the Falcons tampering with Cousins, the NFL may drop them from #8 to the bottom of the first. That would move all teams after their original pick up one spot, which would obviously put us at #17. One less team picking ahead of us can only be viewed as a positive. Go NFL !!!

Latu's medical history is a little more than concerning. His neck injury was so bad, he medically retired. He came back and was cleared to play. If they are comfortable with the medical checks, I guess, but that's worrisome. Verse? Was never a fan of his game.

The Bengals resigned Jake Browning for 2 more years... https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/bengals-re-sign-jake-browning-to-two-year-deal

Thank God. I'm in mock draft, YouTube video of players overload !!!

I don’t like the old Bengals helmets either. While understanding that’s the history of the team, those look like some shit they got a chimp to design. Let the Nike machine go to work and come up with some new look with a tiger head concept. Teeth and shit. As a matter of fact, they could call it the “Teeth and Shit” helmet. The field? I love the striped end-zones and that is ridiculously cool when done in the white for when they go with the white helmet games. Not sure what I would like to see different. The big striped B never bothered me. I did mention the striped state of Ohio with maybe a white B where Cincinnati is. Not like it’s something I feel has to happen though.

Just saw the Bengals hosted Newton for a visit. Guessing that had something to do with them not sending anyone to his pro day.

Yeah that’s a love it or hate it tiger look. I HATE IT !!

For anyone that follows WR rankings, I think Steve Smith is one of the best at the game personally. He teams up with Lance Zierlein to go in depth about the players, but their insight to the position is tops. If you have the hour 17 minutes to give, this is a great watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDzLS0viRX4 Spoiler on the rankings below: Nabers Harrison Odunze Thomas Worthy Mitchell Franklin McConkey Corley Legette Bonus: McCaffrey, Pearsall, and Burton

Sad day. Sorry for Duke and his family.

Yeah, not a knock on the player specifically, but the position. When you have the depth we do at the corner position, spending a first rounder doesn't excite me very much at all. I could live with it, but it would be my least liked selection. Arnold is an above average player, so I could live with it, but again, wouldn't like it much. If they want another CB to add to the mix, get one later. Unless they think DJ Turner isn't going to improve. I don't think they do. Actually, I would be more than happy to have a new WR over CB in the first. I don't have an issue with they want to improve the OG position, I just don't think that's what THEY think. I think they like Volson and have no desire to move on from him with a first round OG selection. Now, a new OT with position versatility, that could beat out Volson in their rookie season, before moving to RT? Yep, I see that as an option they would be considering. Again, not me, them.

I saw an article where ESPN has a draft predictor for 5 players that are the most likely picks at #18. 1. Troy Fautanu, OT, Washington - 13% 2. Byron Murphy, DT, Texas - 9.84% 3. JC Latham, OT, Alabama - 9.72% 4. Brian Burns, WR, LSU - 7.64% 5. Terrion Arnold, CB, Alabama - 6.72% So here's just something else to take some time discussing. What say you about those players? It's not that I don't like Fautanu, but he's strictly a LT and I would rather not draft a guy to play a position that he has literally never taken a snap at during his entire college career. I would be good with Murphy. Would definitely be a solid add to the DT rotation, which is needed. In this grouping I think Latham would be my #1 pick and would be happy with this as well. I really like Burns and think he's a #1 in the future, but he's #3 on this list. Again, would not surprise me. Arnold does next to nothing for me. This is my least favorite position to target in the first round. With CTB and DJ Turner likely locking down the starter roles, along with Hilton, Ivey and a probable move for Dax, this screams of another 1st round pick that will likely have little to no impact in his rookie year. I'm really getting sick of that shit.

Here's another anomaly of position as well. Offensive Guard. Not really a position the Bengals look to take in the higher rounds and don't want to pay them either. But WHAT IF, they take an OT in the first round, that can start off at OG his first season, like Whitworth did at LG? If Fuaga was there at #18, I would fully expect him to be the pick and have him competing with Volson for the starting LG spot. If whatshisname only stays for a single season at RT, then Fuaga transitions there the following year. But MAYBE, Fuaga turns out to be an All Pro LG, they leave him there and address RT in next year's draft. Maybe he doesn't beat our Volson and sits behind the new RT, getting only a small amount of reps. So many variables to consider. Trent Brown. Sorry, forgot his name. Not going back to edit.

That's kind of my thought with all this though. Who really knows and whatever your thoughts are, the Bengals probably see it differently. I personally like Latu a lot. He's 6'4, 260, has elite athleticism and has been a top producer for the past two seasons. Do I like him so much that in back to back seasons we take DE in the first round? NO, but that's me. There is certainly the case of, can you really have enough pass rushers? A lot of 6'2 DE's in this draft too. Seems smallish and not what the Bengals typically look for.

Here's another thought to ponder. Even if (that's a no) the Bengals and I happened to rank players exactly the same, just because I wouldn't take the 6th rated OT over the 3rd rated WR (or name your position) doesn't mean the Bengals won't as well. Maybe they value one position more than another (I think they do) or maybe this year they place a higher priority on need versus value. I think those things change from one season to the next to a degree.

This is why, JUST ONCE, I would like to be a fly on the wall of the Bengals draft room. I would love to have information on how and where they ranked guys. I said before, just because I think player X is the 5th best at his position, the Bengals probably see him differently. That difference is why we will or won't see player X get drafted. For example, I saw many outlets widely believe Myles Murphy was a top 10 talent last year heading into the draft. He was rated near the top of the DE class and many times #1. In looking at the 5 DE's that went in the first round last year, I would have rated him #1 as well. No chance he falls to the Bengals, sitting all the way down at #28. Then it happened, 27 teams, three of them that took a DE, passed on Murphy. WHY? To my point, being the fly on the wall would help, but I think it's simply that the Bengals rated him far higher than those teams that even took a DE and when he fell, it was a no brainer for them, even though many saw a TE or OT being taken there.

I went to take a look, because I was just curious, at which of the OT's thought to go in the 1st and 2nd round had the best athletic scores. It reminded me of a Goodberry video (I think) stating that a Bengals issue in drafting OT's is that they haven't drafted guys who scored well athletically. I looked and the average Bengals OT RAS score is 6.34. Anyway, as expected, you find Joe Alt as the #1 OT from an athletic perspective at a massive 9.93. The rest kind of surprised me, but I cannot say with any certainty I know what the variations between high and low are. Tyler Guyton 9.73 Patrick Paul 9.67 Taliese Fuaga 9.63 Troy Fautanu 9.62 Amarius Mims 9.59 Olumuyiwa Fashanu 9.58 Kingsley Suamataia 9.40 Jordan Morgan 9.25 JC Latham (Did not test) What does all that mean and how does it translate? Your guess is as good as mine, but there will probably be a talented OT available in the 2nd round.

Holy shit, I heard that the other night. Not sure why YouTube saw fit to throw that into my recommended listening. Maybe they really do know me better than most !! Fun would be making a playlist of music from that era and slipping that one in the middle without warning !!

Whatever the difference is between what they should and will do is going to be predicated on what happens between picks 1-17 obviously. So while I sit here today and think they should take an OT at #18 and get them a season of working and learning, there are things that play into that. It has been mentioned before and I agree that I don't see them taking a lower ranked OT if all the others have been taken. However, what we think is the 4th or 5th best OT, probably will look different in the Bengals war room. Maybe they have Mims ranked 3rd best OT and he's there, which means they probably pull the trigger, regardless of if I think he's the 6th best OT. So if all the Bengals ranked OT's are gone, I don't see them reaching and I think there's at least a decent chance of that happening when looking at the needs of the teams picking ahead of us. The Giants, Chargers, Saints, Titans, Jets could all go o-line picking ahead of us. If that happens, which way do they go? If all those QB's and OT's go off the board, that's probably going to push a player down to them they were not expecting. Heck that seems to happen every year and the past two point to that with both Dax Hill and Myles Murphy being there when the Bengals pick. Again, I think OT and DT make sense, but won't say any of them NEED to be the pick at #18. I recently brought up WR and the more I think about what might happen, the more it makes sense to me for all the reasons I already gave. The biggest of those would be getting another true #1 they could lock into a rookie deal for the next 5 years. That's exactly what the WR room is going to need after Chase gets paid, so I wouldn't be shocked or upset in the least. I think there will be both OT's and DT's that could come in and get snaps this season, while needing a year to learn the system, get bigger, stronger, heal, or whatever that will be available in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. There will be WR's available later as well, so that can really throw things up in the air at #18 as well. Can't wait to see... ONE WEEK FROM TODAY !!!

Did anyone else see Newton’s pro day attendance ?? A lot of scouts and coaches on hand for that one. Well, except the Bengals sent no one…

Tanking was the answer when Burrow went down. I will admit that there was some enjoyment in seeing them win some games, but this is the price.