AMPHAR

Fuaga doesn't sound like he'll be there at 18. I'm still skeptical they'll use 18 on OL. Free Agency will tell the tale there. Saying the draft is loaded with WRs is a trend and not unique at all. Since 2020 there's an average of 19 WR taken witin top 150. 2020 - 17 2021 - 20 2022 - 21 Its hard to find rankings or mocks consistent for 2024 going that deep (150) but there are typically 25 WR Prospects that are having grades that would fall in that range. Clearly going to see 20+ WR going top 150 again this year. I tried to find a consistent site with a grading scale. Last year there were about 27 WR prospects with a score that would equate top 150. 2024 is 25. Like they said in the Senior bowl for the foreseeable future there's going to be impressive College Wide Outs each year. For reference this year's 2024 NFL draft class is mostly 2021 High school class. There were 58 4 star or higher WR prospects. For high school class of 2024 there are 85 4 star or higher. Assuming their grading is consistent. Every year is going to be a loaded NFL WR draft. However, these prospects getting drafted are less than 50% in producing 1,000 yard seasons so far. Also there's going to be a higher degree of churn because teams simply can't get snaps and are teams going to start carrying 8/9 WRs when they can't get them snaps? I dunno.

I think the Bengals had an offer out to Lawson when he went to the Jets. That money became Trey Hendrickson. Lawson is an above average pass rushers and could also give them some interior rushes as well. The issue has always been health and actually getting the QB to the ground. Lou had him on the field a decent amount his final year for the Bengals. Bengals D was also horrible that year as well. The question will be do they want/need Lawson to push Murphy and Ossasi for DE back up Snaps? They clearly need someone to step up to give more pass rush outside of Trey. Ossasi was a major disappointment coming off a very good 2022 AFC Champ game. Murphy came along slowly but showed progress as the year went along. I'm convinced with Jackson and Watson in the division. Expected meetings with either Allen and Mahomes in the playoffs you need guys along the D-line that can run and chase QBs. Its kinda amazing the success the Bengals have had against them with Hendrickson and Hubbard running themselves to death.

Becton would have to be a prove it deal. Yeah he's said he doesn't like Right Tackle because of the stress on the knee. So that's a red flag. On the plus side his rookie season was with Pollack and that season had him tabbed as future top player. He clearly was at odds with the Jets organization which seems to be the norm. For what its worth A-Aron Rodger said nice things about him.

Meki Becton would be a gamble but his rookie season was with Pollack. Worth a gamble +rookie draft pick? Jets are probably going to use up 1 of those projected first round linemen, maybe.

Both Volson and Cappa are Free Agents after the 2025 season. Both were underwhelming this past season. I would welcome Zietler back but the Bengals and he have never been on the same page financially since his rookie deal. I don't get the sense they are looking to move past any of the current starting guards which is unfortunate. I'll put my early vote in for Joey Bosa IF he gets cut from SD. Injuries have plagued him but a nice rotation opposite rush threat from Trey would be nice. RT? Not a whole lot out there. Maybe some cuts throw a veteran out on the market? I'd have to think they aren't walking into the draft having to have a Right Tackle at 18 or 49 so I'd expect to have someone signed at that spot. Jonah Williams projections wouldn't seem like he'd be back or have to settle for a cheap deal. Addition: CJ is also rumored to be cut from Jets. Assuming his lack of use was Jets being Jets, I wouldn't be surprised if he got a chance to return.

What a career ride for that dude.

Traditional trades with Franchise tag don't happen very often. Alternate trades in which the teams come together for less than 2 firsts have happened multiple times. Higgins is worth a top 15 pick, IMO. Its not worth trading him for anything less. If you use that trade value chart that's multiple 2nd or various other picks. Why? 1st - There have been a lot of WRs taken top 35 since Tee was drafted. Less than 50% have a singular 1,000 yard season. 2nd - A great play, slightly bad throw robbed Higgins of 100+ yard day and the Bengals a return trip to Superbowl. Despite the O-line once again killing multiple drives with 5 sacks and whole bunch of pressures.

Colts theory floating around is revisionist history. Colts did not set out emphasizing the Wide Receiver position. It also did not cost them anymore post season success. 1st - Any AFC team during that era; no matter how you want to describe their roster strategy; EVERYONE of them lost post season success to Tom Brady and the Patriots. EVERYONE. 2nd - Harrison was drafted by a different GM in 1996. Polian was hired in 1998 drafted Peyton. Then in 2001 they drafted Reggie Wayne. The end result of the Colts cap was dictated by their drafting success. Throughout most of the Manning/Colts era the roster was made up of drafted players. This was a constant argument among Bengal fans in whether or not they should be building via the draft or Free Agency in the early Marvin Lewis days.

The "more is better" advantage gets played down. Greatly. People present these theories hedging their bet or opinion that Higgins eventually moves on. So naturally his impact isn't all that great or can easily be replaced. Saw this same thinking when the Bengals had Dunlap, Atkins, and MJ all on rookie deals. Most people thought, only 1 could stay, maybe 2. So it divulged into theories on how MJ sucked because most were guessing he's the one leaving. He did, then came back and they probably had one of the best D-lines in the history of the franchise for a couple seasons. Its not that Joe NEEDS Higgins. Its more a fact that Higgins with Joe makes alot of plays. A great number of plays that puts Higgins among the elite in his prime. So yeah, they could try to replace him. They could be successful in doing so. J. Joe when he walked out with Gatorade and broke Zimmer's heart. They replaced him quickly seamlessly. Whitworth was disaster. Zietler was disaster. I just kinda default to the fact they draft an elite talent. It works. Might as well put best effort forward in keeping him.

Meanwhile in KC, Buffalo and AFC North they don't have "Cap Hell" as it existed in the 1990 but they have some tough roster management issues ahead. 1. KC has 2 elite FAs. 1 Tag and probably enough cap room to cover that tag. So they'll have to reshuffle some stuff 2. Buffalo is ($50m) over. I have no idea 3. Miami is ($50m) over. Again no idea 4. Houston - $65 cap room. Dangerous team to make waves in AFC 5. Baltimore - ($1m) over. Bunch of key players as FAs. Right now can't tag anyone. 6. Browns - ($20m) over. No clue but they got issues because they still have Qb concerns 7. Pittsburgh - ($4) over. Issues. Namely how do they grab a QB? Other AFC team will splash and win the media darling offseason award. Houston is a real threat. Cincinnati can actually win it by just tagging and then extending another elite talent.

Just remove the emotion. NFL fans/media allow emotion to sway logical thinking. Below is a summary of the elite free agents prior to tags and in no particular order. I would take ANY of these players on a 1 year deal at their market rate. Might be a couple more players but the NFL Top free agent lists generally have these names on top. 1. Chris Jones 2. L'Jarius Sneed 3. Jaylon Johnson 4. Josh Allen (the pass rusher) 5. Madubuike 6. Antonie Winfield 7. Tee Higgins But since Tee Higgins is already a Bengal for some reason that wouldn't count as an elite signing. Stupid. Its always been stupid to look at it that way. Now, reality is these guys are not making it to the market (via tags) OR signing huge multi year deals if they do reach UFA. The Bengals have a lay up here. Instantly procure an elite Free Agent by simply playing by the rules. If Higgins busts in 2024 like he did in 2023. They can move on easily. The fact some fans/media would even think this situation as a negative is mind boggling. Take the lay up. You then control 1 of the elite players in FA. Once that is done. The Bengals will rearrange some deck chairs on Lido Deck. Hopefully match the succes they've done the past couple years. The most important piece of the entire offseason is Chase. Get him locked away this summer and they've done a lot of what the media fear mongered for two years over the pending Burrow deal. Then the biggest question marks in Training Camp will be QB health, Young safeties and right tackle.

I wouldn't mind burning another late rounder on a punter. However, there has to be a upside with the one they just drafted and/or a solid Undrafted punter that would be an improvement. Just word to the wise there are some Fanboys in the Bengal twitterverse. They loved them some Volson and they loved them some Robbins. Go back and look at some of those OTA, Training Camp tweets for both these guys. Superhuman they where.

Wide Outs

Defensive Line

Interior OL

Tackles -

More Senior Bowl Updates: A couple of these guys are landing to the Bengals in mock drafts. CB chatter:

I would not want Fields in Pittsburgh. Too much upside and they'd have a cheap 2024 and I'm assuming they'd have an optional 5th year somewhere around $20m. Hopefully his struggles in Chicago aren't easily fixed if he does land in Pitt.

Steelers will be in the QB market. The other QB is saying he wants a fresh start. Then Pickett is a large unknown. It will be interesting to see what they do. Hopefully it cost them cap room, draft picks and it flops bigger than shit.

Pass. Call it my Senior Bowl bias. There's a few players taken after each pick I'd rather have at this point. My desire for a big investment at TE is going to change pending the status of Higgins. IMO, if they lock in Higgins with a tag or contract there's no room for a big investment in TE, unless comit to an every down TE. With Higgins, Chase, Burrow, 5 OL, RB - That leaves you 2 spots to work in every other utility player and sometimes with a slot WR they have blocking dedicated TE.

Dan Quinn was a very good D-Coordinator. Zimmer will do fine. Cowboys are a better version of the problem the Bengals had with Marvin Lewis. Good regular season team, poor playoff performers. The history of the NFL is filled with these type of teams. Since I loved the old AFC Central in the late 80s. These type of regular season champs/playoff chump teams remind me of the Warren Moon Oilers. Just could never get to the Conference Championship game.

Eh, if its a forgone conclusion they'll suck in September and I don't see why they wouldn't. Give me the toughest non-divisional road games in weeks 1 and 2. If they suck, then at least get those games are out of the way. If you land on opening Thursday, at least you'll have a quasi-bye week to lick your wounds. I don't want to see division home games or heavy favorite home games in weeks 1 or 2. Would really like to avoid any division games week 1 or 2. However, the Reds are out of town those weekends so they'll probably be home.

Also with a Chiefs win and the Bengals scheduled to visit Arrowhead again, this puts them in the running for Thursday Night opening game.

Romo and Nantz are horrible. Romo is horrible. In retrospect Phil Sims was a ton better. If CBS was bold they poach Greg Olsen from Fox since he's getting demoted to make way for Tom Brady.

Willie will probably have to pass away and then have the NFL forget his name in a tribute in order to be elected to Hall of Fame. Bengals shouldn't have a bunch of Hall of Famers but come on. 2 guys? One had to be top 5 in career interceptions, die, be forgotten and then elected. In another clear case of disrespect. Bengal player 17.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles not even a mention for DPOY.