Steinbach at Center, Whitworth at LG

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Monday, October 09, 2006

Steinbach takes center snaps with starters

Eric Steinbach was at center at the start of practice with the first-team offense this afternoon. Rookie Andrew Whitworth lined up at left guard, beside Steinbach.

Second-year lineman Eric Ghiaciuc, who started the previous two games at center, worked at center with the second-team offense, led by quarterback Anthony Wright.

Missing from the start of practice were strong safety Dexter Jackson and linebacker Rashad Jeanty, both starters on the defense the Bengals are hoping to get back for the game Sunday at Tampa Bay.

Fullback Jeremi Johnson was not in his practice uniform, but he did stretch with the team but wore a hooded sweatshirt.

Defensive end Robert Geathers and cornerback Greg Brooks, both of whom suffered sprained knees against New England in Week 4, were in practice gear for the start of the practice.From Mark's blog:

Guy-chick demoted. As suspected.

I sure hope Dex, Jeanty and JJ get healthy for Sunday.

[Tasher]

But will it yield different results?

BTW, #500! Whoo Hooo!

[ShulaSteakhouse]

But will it yield different results?

BTW, #500! Whoo Hooo!

IMO it will - you put your best players on the field whenever possible. I was pleasantly suprised the Bengals' did this instead of putting so much faith into Alexander's failed draft pick.

IMO Whitworth is a better guard at this time than Guy-chick is at center.

Steinbach is a better Center at this time - than Guy-chick is - most likely.

Furthermore this may also bring down Steinbach's price tag this off-season, as long as he doesn't go and become a pro bowl caliber center (doubtful).

Braham was a guard at one point and moved into the center position quite nicely - not sure how Steiny will do - but surely he's more competent than Guy-chick and capable of handling blitzers better.

Although Whitworth is a bit stiff in the knees - really like the way he handled himself in preseason and week 2. Pretty good pass protector.

I think this potentially, could be a better all-around 0-line than with Braham in there, dare I say...if Whitworth holds up and plays well.

[derekshank]

I don't know if it will yield better results. It will depend on Steiny's ability to make good reads. I imagine he is smart enough to pull it off, but I don't think Ghiaciuc is stupid... just inexperienced. Hopefully Steiny's experience will pay off.

Where it should really help is getting Whitworth on the field. The guy is freaking huge! Not to mention how freaking big Williams is on the other side of Steiny. The middle of this O-Line will be massive, so we should get quite a push in the running game. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

[Kazkal]

I don't know if it will yield better results. It will depend on Steiny's ability to make good reads. I imagine he is smart enough to pull it off, but I don't think Ghiaciuc is stupid... just inexperienced. Hopefully Steiny's experience will pay off.

Aye,guycheck might just take longer to come around he did face 3 3-4 teams which probbley harder for noobie center then 4-3 team like jaguars who dont depend on blitzs

[ArmyBengal]

BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAAAAAAAAAA !!!!

Holy sh*t !!! I'm still in tears over this one !!! Funny as hell and I hope to hell the move pays dividends !!! I'm rooting liike hell for Steiny and can't wait to see "BMF" Whitworth getting the start and going up against first teamers this Sunday !!!

WHODEY !!!

[Dadraftnick]

According to Marvin the starting C is Ghiciuc

From Bengals.com:

Steinbach

CENTER OF ATTENTION: Braham wouldn’t elaborate Monday on how much longer he’ll be out with his bruised knee. Left guard Eric Steinbach said he took snaps at center last week and one option is to move him to center and replace him with rookie Andrew Whitworth.

On Monday in the early part of practice, Steinbach took the snaps with the first team and Eric Ghiaciuc worked with the second ream.

But then, Steinbach has taken snaps all spring and summer at center at various points and he thinks they're giving him a refresher course "just in case something happens."

“I’m not sure what they’re going to do,” Steinbach said. “So the bye week was a good time to get some reps at center.”

Steinbach’s only appearance at center is his first one ever, and it came last year against Houston when both Braham and Larry Moore went down in the first half of the 16-10 win over the Texans.

When asked who is going to start at center Sunday against the Bucs, head coach Marvin Lewis said, "I made that announcement four weeks ago," indicating Ghiaciuc.

My guess is Ghiaciuc is in until he gives his first sack,which should be until the end of the first play.

[cincy9275]

According to Marvin the starting C is Ghiciuc

From Bengals.com:

Steinbach

CENTER OF ATTENTION: Braham wouldn’t elaborate Monday on how much longer he’ll be out with his bruised knee. Left guard Eric Steinbach said he took snaps at center last week and one option is to move him to center and replace him with rookie Andrew Whitworth.

On Monday in the early part of practice, Steinbach took the snaps with the first team and Eric Ghiaciuc worked with the second ream.

But then, Steinbach has taken snaps all spring and summer at center at various points and he thinks they're giving him a refresher course "just in case something happens."

“I’m not sure what they’re going to do,” Steinbach said. “So the bye week was a good time to get some reps at center.”

Steinbach’s only appearance at center is his first one ever, and it came last year against Houston when both Braham and Larry Moore went down in the first half of the 16-10 win over the Texans.

When asked who is going to start at center Sunday against the Bucs, head coach Marvin Lewis said, "I made that announcement four weeks ago," indicating Ghiaciuc.

My guess is Ghiaciuc is in until he gives his first sack,which should be until the end of the first play.

what this tells me is that yes ghiaciuc is the starter but he will have a very short leach

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Yeah I really believe anything Marvins says at this point. Is he afraid of hurting Guy-chick's feelings?

Why is Guy-chick not getting 1st team reps at center then, huh Marvin? With his inexperience shouldn't he be practicing with the 1st team for God's sakes?

Why create controversy when there doesn't have to be any?

Guy-chick's problem isn't mental either - is a physical problem, he isn't very good, never will be, at least not any time soon.

[Dadraftnick]

Yeah I really believe anything Marvins says at this point. Is he afraid of hurting Guy-chick's feelings?

Why is Guy-chick not getting 1st team reps at center then, huh Marvin? With his inexperience shouldn't he be practicing with the 1st team for God's sakes?

Why create controversy when there doesn't have to be any?

Guy-chick's problem isn't mental either - is a physical problem, he isn't very good, never will be, at least not any time soon.

I couldnt agree more, Eric Ghiciuc is not good enough.

He has had plenty of time to devolop and has not.

Every year guys come in and start at every position with much less experence than he has and do fine.

Hell, Rothlesburger came in off the bench his rookie year and started and did well and QB is a much harder position to learn.

O-line coach Paul Alexander is no Jim McNally,Alexander has not had much success devoloping lower round draft choices.Mc Nally could do it and is still doing it.

If you look at it, you have Anderson 1st,Levi Jones 1st,Stienbach 2nd,Williams 2nd,even Whitworth is a 2nd and you have lowly Ghiciauc a 4th maybe, Alexander just couldnt do anything with him,he was a major reach in the 4th anyway.

99.99% of the time if a guy has it you can see it the first time he starts, as I have said before, when Brock Guiterez came in he played well in his first start.

I know one thing, the Bengals cannot afford to get Carson Palmer hurt and the C spot is not a place for on job training,McDonalds is, which is where Ghiciauc is better suited to working.

[jjakq27]

I know this is really premature, but what if Steinbach stays at center until Braham comes back (if he ever comes back) and does well there. What does this do for his contract status for next year?

I hope it works out. I like the straight ahead power game that Whitworth gives them at guard.

[HoosierCat]

[Furthermore this may also bring down Steinbach's price tag this off-season, as long as he doesn't go and become a pro bowl caliber center (doubtful).

If he plays center successfully, it will raise his price tag, no doubt about it. Only way it pushes down his perceived value at all is if he's an abject failure.

[Kazkal]

[Furthermore this may also bring down Steinbach's price tag this off-season, as long as he doesn't go and become a pro bowl caliber center (doubtful).

If he plays center successfully, it will raise his price tag, no doubt about it. Only way it pushes down his perceived value at all is if he's an abject failure.

Yup If team needing center? steinbach or if Team needs a LT steinbach then if a teamneeds a LG and wants to pay LT money then steinbach

[ShulaSteakhouse]

[Furthermore this may also bring down Steinbach's price tag this off-season, as long as he doesn't go and become a pro bowl caliber center (doubtful).

If he plays center successfully, it will raise his price tag, no doubt about it. Only way it pushes down his perceived value at all is if he's an abject failure.

If he's a restricted FA, does another team offer him the guard $ he would've normally gotten had he played there all year (and played well), or would that offer be less since he finished up at center the 2nd half, and just did "okay?" (most likely scenario)

I don't think it's written in stone yet, nor a motivation for them to move him, but it's just something I thought of.

[HairOnFire]

I know this is really premature, but what if Steinbach stays at center until Braham comes back (if he ever comes back) and does well there. What does this do for his contract status for next year?

I'd say nothing. Based upon his past level of play Steinbach can already demand a contract that sets the market for a young OG playing just below a ProBowl level. Factor in a little more money for his ability to fill in at LT when needed, and a little bit more if you think he can play that position full time.

As for his ability to play center when needed, well props...but if you want Steinbach you're already going to be paying a higher price due to his versatility. The fact that he can also play center shouldn't add anything to his price, and I'm betting any team that has plans for moving Steinbach to center will find themselves overpaying or risk being outbid by teams that are looking for guards or LT's.

Frankly, the only thing that I see impacting Steinbach's contract status is his current level of play, which hasn't been close to his past standards. That said, I'm guessing that factor won't matter much to any team other than the Bengals.

[Kirkendall]

I feel bad for Eric G. "OK, son. Richie is down and you have to prepare for Casey Hampton and Vince Wilfork. Git 'er done." If this were a non-Super Bowl contending team, I'd say give him time to develop through experience. As it is, we need to perform now. Bad deal for Eric, but it would be sound judgement to do what's best for the team, obviously. (ha, GOP response on Mark Foley!)

[aaronburr]

Steinbach will be an unrestricted FA since this is his fourth year (remember he was drafted the same year Carson was). But considering the Hutchinson deal last year, I don't think the Bengals would be in a position to match any meaningful offers anyway.

As for Steinbach's value being affected...

The Bengals already knew what they had, so no big change there. But if Steinbach is needed at center for any extended period of time, maybe the Bengals are a little more willing to pay to keep him around.

As for the rest of league, any level of competance at center at all will just cement his versatility. And raise his value. Nobody's going to sign him as their first-string center (except maybe the Browns), but they will certainly value his ability to fill in at least 2 other places in an emergency.

It's win-win for Steinbach, his agent, and whichever team signs him next year.

[Kazkal]

Brown fans wanna see him brought in as a LT

[Kazkal]

After thinking about it took braham 4-5 years till he became the starting center,guycheck probbley deserves more time but he shoulden't be rushed in too it either...I wonder if braham has a year or 2 left in him to find out if guycheck is the center of future or if will have end up taking center early in a draft.