AMPHAR

I can attest McConkey was open all day. Impressive slot candidate IF 1v1 represents reality.

DE news: When Mitchell was mentioned "best in class" by DJ. They also said Robinson was clearly the best along the line. At least that's the way I remember the comment.

RB update: I happend to be watching this play. Very impressive. Couldn't remember the players name, but remember Marshall.

CB News: According to DJ he's been the "best in show" defender here and its not close. There's other DBs at the Senior Bowl I promise. However, the one that is generating the most comments it Mitchell.

Tackle news: Happy for this dude because he had a bad National Championship game.

Those interested in TEs:

Quote above from Hobson. This guy was impressive today too. Apparently already on the radar. I think they made the comparison to Danny Woodhead.

Quinyon Mitchell should also pop up on these "best day" list that come out later today. CB Toledo, OH.

Fuaga from Oregon state. I would expect to see him on some "best day" list this afternoon. Had a great rep against UCLA's Latu (First Rounder edge).

Put Kris Jenkins on your DT watch/wish list: a. Bengals have used high picks on Michigan players last two drafts b. he's a freak

Here's some of the Bruce Feldman freaks https://draftwire.usatoday.com/lists/several-prominent-2024-nfl-draft-prospects-make-this-years-cfb-freaks-list/

Duke Manyweather? You'll notice a couple of these guys are working out with him. He's built an offseason training camp for NFL lineman and a NFL prep for prospects. He boast some former top 15 picks. https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/big-boys-club-meet-duke-manyweather-offensive-line-guru

https://trenchwarfare.substack.com/p/2024-senior-bowl-ol-preview-rankings One dudes summary pre-Senior Bowl. Good summary write up. Has a lot more info, I deleted. Click the link for the rest.

Browns just hired Ken Dorsey that was fired mid-season via Bills for OC.

So I've heard the "Defenses have caught up to the offenses" theory several times this year. However the difference is staggering. Assuming I have not miscalculated: In 2020: With 16 games - There was 183,825 yards gained and 12,692 points scored. In 2023 With 17 games - 180,382 yards gained and 11,606 points scored. Holy shit 1 extra game and 3K less in yards and 1K less in points. 2020 - 183,825 yards gained; 12,692 points scored (16 games) 2021 - 186,897 yards gained, 12,502 points scored (17 games) 2022 184,332 yards gained, 11,860 points scored (Buffalo and Cincy) 1 less game. 2023 180,382 yards gained, 11,606 points scored (17 games) Damn rat zones!

Damn Rat Zones! 1. No wonder our young safeties struggled. That's a whole lot of knowledge 2. Fans can't trust PFF grades. Nobody with an All-22 video is going to figure out what the hell should have happened. Each covering defender has 3/4 different rules.

I'm not sure Callahan is taking the same anything to Titan land after watching a Joe Goodberry video. A lot is dependent on Burrow. Does he have a franchise changer like Burrow down in Nashville?

Play calling is a red herring for the Bengals. I'd love to see a stat of how many drives per game are stalled because line issues in pass blocking. They don't really run all that well vs. light boxes either. Be honest I think the coaches are fine with a weak run game as long as it doesn't throw them off schedule. But they are looking for conversions via the passing game and giving up 3 sacks per game is a damper on the overall numbers.

Its an A. McPherson and Chase are among the top 5 in their positions, I guess. Each have provided historic moments already. This alone, IMO, would be hard to grade lower than an A. Then several depth pieces that will be entering 4th season and a few will still earn spots.

Blast from the past: Blame this on not being in the conference championship game. Update on some of the Senior Bowl hero of yester year. 1. Dawand Jones - Browns - 4th round - 9 starts. I think most DAWG fans are happy with him. Made PFF all star rookie team. 2. Cody Mauch - I think he's still missing teeth. Bucs - Round 2. If you think PFF is worth a crap he graded poorly. Higher number of sacks given up but appeared to be day 1 starter all season long for playoff team at Guard. 3. Riley Moss - Denver Broncos - 3rd round. Got 6 starts at the end of the year. Not sure what happened to him during the year. 4. John Micheal-Schmitz - Giants- Center- Round 2 - Injured on a "tush push" play. PFF again if you think its worth a crap, poor grade. 5. Sydney Brown - EAGLES - Round 3 best known for being twin brother of Chase Brown. Had some nice game changing plays. Got hurt last week of season. Good PFF. 6. Will McDonald IV - Edge rusher - JETS - 1st round - 3 sacks 7. Keion White - Edge Rusher - PATS - Round 2 - 1 sack 8. Julius Brents - DJ's top senior bowl CB - Colts - Round 2 - 9 games played. Good PFF if you believe in that. 9. O' Cyrus Toorence - Buffalo Bills - Round 2 - Day one starter for playoff team. PFF rookie team Conclusion: Guys that get noticed at Senior Bowl - get drafted and play.

lol. Well hopefully he'll be good enough to at least challenge the Chiefs and maybe make them go on the road a little more in the playoffs.

Wouldn't be surprised if Pitcher ends up getting HC looks down the road. He has 2 guys in the room that have won games and thrown 300+. Franchise players get guys promoted, period. Joe Brady is running around cashing in off Burrow/Chase/Jefferson at LSU. Callahan cashing off Burrow. Just the way it works. Sure these guys might have some secret play book but its most likely they have the best guys on their squad. The most innovative coach, I've seen as a Bengal fan, was Sam Wyche. He tried more shit and had more stuff flop than he was successful at but always came up with something. He basically said when you coach Joe Montana, you take two steps back and leave him alone that way you can be a good coach. He used to quiz Boomer non stop. The success at the position seems to be first having a skilled QB and then the personality to work with them. Joe Montana and Boomer were wildly different personalities, but Sam figured out how to work with them. By all accounts Pitcher and Joe work well together.

Can't pay 2 WRs is short sighted. Bengals are going to spend the money. They'll never be reckless. Either Tee takes it or they move on to the next in line. But no matter what some spot on the roster will have to be managed with young players because the money is going to get spent and eventually there is a limit. So the critical factor is 1. The highly paid players perform. 2. They have success managing the young spots in the roster. So you don't pay Tee. Fine. Then the spot you have to manage is WR2 and WR3 because Boyd is likely gone too. If you pay Tee then its RT or some other spot.

This nugget from Bengals.com. I don't recall last years' senior bowl attendance via Bengals staff, but that is a big shift from they operated. Coaches not going. Now just dropping in.

Mixon convo (if there's a convo) gets answered relatively quickly this year. He's got a roster bonus due right after the start of Free Agency. I think Joe Burrow gave good insight. He thought the run game was efficient, kept them on schedule. I think that represents their attitude towards the run game. Just do enough to keep them on schedule. I don't know if they are willing to pay FA dollars for a chance to grab a bigger play back. Draft? Yeah, I could see them taking a back higher again this year. Then you need RBs on this team that are going to produce in the pass game. Sold on Newton. Higgins convo - absolutely reminds me of local scribes convo about Dunlap, Atkins, MJ. Everyone suspected that keeingp 2 of the 3 would be hard or impossible. Of course all 3 impossible. So they spent so much time rationalizing it, of course MJ wasn't this or that blah, blah, blah. MJ went away for a year then back on decent deal. They had awesome years together. They never went to a Superbowl but that's because of higher issues at QB and HC. Higgins is top player they should do everything they can up to risking Chase (which they won't). I would even go cheap at RT and figure that out later to make it happen.