Bengals Sign Stepanovich

[DuffMan]

Just saw it over on bengals.com

O-line depth couldnt hurt, either they're planning on moving wilkerson to G, or they lost some faith in guy-check and/or wilkerson.

[HoosierCat]

Good deal. We need the depth.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Huh, funny in that his agent said he left PBS with no intention of signing here after meeting with the Bengals - that they were on "different paths" or something.

I don't know that the Bengals' ever had that much confidence in Guy-chick - nor do I - and think Step is probably a slight upgrade, but am sure those two will battle it out in training camp.

[derekshank]

I don't know much about him. Is he good enough to win the job over Ghuciac?

All I know is that he's been a back-up in Arizona (one of the worst O-Lines in the NFL) for the last couple years, but he's always started a few games. The main thing I notice is that he's got a few pounds on Ghuciac.

The major problem last year was the bull-rush pushing undersized Ghuciuc and Steinbach right down the middle into Carson. Whitworth and Stepanovich would be about 60 extra lbs - a lot harder to bull-rush.

[SkinneymulleT]

I don't know much about him. Is he good enough to win the job over Ghuciac?

All I know is that he's been a back-up in Arizona (one of the worst O-Lines in the NFL) for the last couple years, but he's always started a few games. The main thing I notice is that he's got a few pounds on Ghuciac.

The major problem last year was the bull-rush pushing undersized Ghuciuc and Steinbach right down the middle into Carson. Whitworth and Stepanovich would be about 60 extra lbs - a lot harder to bull-rush.

Correction he was a starter per hoboson.

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=5936

Looking to bolster depth at center, the Bengals signed free agent Alex Stepanovich to a one-year deal Friday. The 6-4, 312-pound Stepanovich is a seasoned veteran of 30 starts with the Cardinals and is an Ohio State product Arizona selected in the fourth round of the 2004 draft.

Stepanovich didn’t miss a snap and became the first rookie center in Cardinals history to start every game in 2004. With the coaching change from Dennis Green to Ken Whisenhunt, he was not made a tender offer by Arizona that would have made him a restricted free agent.

[HoosierCat]

I took a quick look at the Cards board on their official site, and the general opinion seems to be that "Step" sucks. Which I sort of figured; when you aren't even tendered by the Cards, something definitely ain't right. But like I said before we need the depth.

[JoePong]

Stepanovich isn't very good, but his O-Line coaches in Arizona sucked and he never really developed. He started immediately from his rookie season on, until he got injured and missed some time. While he was inured, Nick Leckey took the starting center position.

Still, we have nobody on the roster capable of backing up Ghiaciuc. And I don't want all you morons bringing up Ben Wikerson. He's no better than practice squad material. Ghiaciuc is the undisputed starter, and Step is a decent backup.

And no, Wilkerson is not being moved to guard. He's not capable of playing any other position. Stepanovich is.

Huh, funny in that his agent said he left PBS with no intention of signing here after meeting with the Bengals - that they were on "different paths" or something.

I don't know that the Bengals' ever had that much confidence in Guy-chick - nor do I - and think Step is probably a slight upgrade, but am sure those two will battle it out in training camp.

It has nothing to do with their confidence in Ghiaciuc. We simply don't have an NFL caliber backup center. With Steinbach gone, we are in big trouble if Ghiaciuc gets injured.

[Stripes]

I'd say this says more about the Bengals confidence in Wilkerson than Ghiaciuc. Step will be nice to have for depth, but I'd be surprised to see him earn the starting job at any point barring injury.

[derekshank]

I don't know much about him. Is he good enough to win the job over Ghuciac?

All I know is that he's been a back-up in Arizona (one of the worst O-Lines in the NFL) for the last couple years, but he's always started a few games. The main thing I notice is that he's got a few pounds on Ghuciac.

The major problem last year was the bull-rush pushing undersized Ghuciuc and Steinbach right down the middle into Carson. Whitworth and Stepanovich would be about 60 extra lbs - a lot harder to bull-rush.

Correction he was a starter per hoboson.

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=5936

Looking to bolster depth at center, the Bengals signed free agent Alex Stepanovich to a one-year deal Friday. The 6-4, 312-pound Stepanovich is a seasoned veteran of 30 starts with the Cardinals and is an Ohio State product Arizona selected in the fourth round of the 2004 draft.

Stepanovich didn’t miss a snap and became the first rookie center in Cardinals history to start every game in 2004. With the coaching change from Dennis Green to Ken Whisenhunt, he was not made a tender offer by Arizona that would have made him a restricted free agent.

No. He was a starter his rookie year, but was a back-up last year. He did start 9 games in '05 and 5 in '06, but he was primarily a back-up.

[JoePong]

Dennis Green cut Pete Kendall and immediately made stepanovich the starting center as a rookie. Unfortunately, the had an awful O-Line coach who had never coached before and Step didn't develop as expected. He was kind of thrown into the fire having to start at center as a rookie with no coaching. Basically, he eventually broke his hand and missed some time. Nick Leckey took over as the starting cente while step was injured. Under a new coach, the line started to gel a little bit last year so he never made it back into the starting lineup. It's kind of unfair to judge him how he did as a rookie. It normally takes a couple years for a center to really develop. I think he'll do well with the coaching he'll have here-he can be a quality backup center for Ghiaciuc and he can also play guard if needed. Wilkerson is not an NFL quality lineman. With Steinbach gone, we didn't have anyone else on the roster capable of starting at center if Ghiaciuc goes down.

[WhoDeyForever]

Sweet signing! Buckeye alum and a great backup

[kurgan74]

Step was solid in college. Plus, he put one heck of a scare into the soldja at the combine.

Solja apparently was running his trap to Robert Gallery and Alex in an elevator

when STep call his bluff and shut him up.

[BengalPappaw]

Good move!!

Maybe we got some help on the defense? (tongue firmly planted in cheek)

Stepanovich played DE in high school and had 14 sacks his senior year!!

IMO he provides more depth at C and G. Whitworth and Andrews have shown they can fill in at G and T.

Now, we need to get some players on the defensive side.

[schroomytunes]

It is what it is...a good cheap backup at a position of need on the O-line. It allows us to have a veteran backup and allows us to draft other positions. Good low risk high reward signing!

[derekshank]

Hev was definitely good at OSU... but that doesn't often mean much. At a big program like OSU, the O-Line gets to match up with guys that are often much smaller than them on the D-Line. I'm more interested in what he did in the NFL... and it sounds like not much.

Ghuciac hasn't really done anything to shout about either though. Maybe Step just needs some coaching. I won't be the least surprised if he's are starter by the time the season rolls around... and I'd be just fine with that. However, even if he doesn't, at least we don't have to use the draft to address the O-Line now.

[cardsfan]

I like the Bengals, so I was sorry to see they signed our absolutely worst player. I am hoping this guy is a backup that never sees the field because I fear for Carson's safety if he lines up under this center.

You really need to go to some Arizona Message Boards and see what they think of this guy. Arizona had arguably one of the worst lines in the NFL. The overwhelming pick for the worst player on that line was Step. He is awful. He is constantly bullrushed back into the QB's. Carson's legs won't be able to take the abuse of having his feet stepped on by this guy.

He was replaced halfway through the season. If you look at the stats, the Cardinal's line had substantially better stats after he was benched.

He is awful. Trust me. The man doesn't have the talent to be on the practice squad. See other forums below to validate what I say.

http://forums.azcardinals.com/showthread.php?t=20232

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=87715

Best of luck to you in the season. I look forward to see if we stack up well against your division this year.

[JoePong]

I like the Bengals, so I was sorry to see they signed our absolutely worst player. I am hoping this guy is a backup that never sees the field because I fear for Carson's safety if he lines up under this center.

You really need to go to some Arizona Message Boards and see what they think of this guy. Arizona had arguably one of the worst lines in the NFL. The overwhelming pick for the worst player on that line was Step. He is awful. He is constantly bullrushed back into the QB's. Carson's legs won't be able to take the abuse of having his feet stepped on by this guy.

He was replaced halfway through the season. If you look at the stats, the Cardinal's line had substantially better stats after he was benched.

He is awful. Trust me. The man doesn't have the talent to be on the practice squad. See other forums below to validate what I say.

http://forums.azcardinals.com/showthread.php?t=20232

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=87715

Best of luck to you in the season. I look forward to see if we stack up well against your division this year.

I guarantee Stepanovich will be better in Cincy than he was there-now that he's out of the Siberia of the NFL. He'll get much better coaching and he'll be surrounded by better players on the O-Line. Totally differerent that Arizona, where he was thrown into the fire before he was ready, got no coaching, and was surrounded by awful talent on the rest of the line.

[James_Brooks21]

The Bengals threw there hat right in the middle of free agency with this signing. I didn't think they would put there self out there to sign a big name free agent like this. I can be quiet now we just have improved ourself to fight tooth and nail with the big boys (Indy, New England, San Diego). Go Bengals

[Defender]

I like the Bengals, so I was sorry to see they signed our absolutely worst player. I am hoping this guy is a backup that never sees the field because I fear for Carson's safety if he lines up under this center.

You really need to go to some Arizona Message Boards and see what they think of this guy. Arizona had arguably one of the worst lines in the NFL. The overwhelming pick for the worst player on that line was Step. He is awful. He is constantly bullrushed back into the QB's. Carson's legs won't be able to take the abuse of having his feet stepped on by this guy.

He was replaced halfway through the season. If you look at the stats, the Cardinal's line had substantially better stats after he was benched.

He is awful. Trust me. The man doesn't have the talent to be on the practice squad. See other forums below to validate what I say.

http://forums.azcardinals.com/showthread.php?t=20232

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=87715

Best of luck to you in the season. I look forward to see if we stack up well against your division this year.

You know what's funny? This reminds me of a post that some Raiders fan posted about Chuck Bresnahan right after he was hired by the Bengals. It was almost an equal translation, i.e. he sucks, worst coach ever, he's predictable, etc... Hope this isn't a trend forming...

[derekshank]

Not that it is the same comparison... but a lot of Tampa fans warned us that Dexter was a terrible Safety too. He's fine. There is a tendency to devalue what you no longer have.

This is true for Bengal fans too. Kelley Washington may not be a fan favorite, but most of us were happy to have his depth. The moment he left though... he was garbage.

I'm not saying that Step is going to be a great Center... but I'm also not going to take the opinion of a Cardinal fan to the bank (as if Step was the only thing that was wrong with that O-Line).

[redsbengalsbucks]

More competition for the starting C position, good signing only because Bluto is horrible and Wilkerson is still a ?.

[SkinneymulleT]

I don't know much about him. Is he good enough to win the job over Ghuciac?

All I know is that he's been a back-up in Arizona (one of the worst O-Lines in the NFL) for the last couple years, but he's always started a few games. The main thing I notice is that he's got a few pounds on Ghuciac.

The major problem last year was the bull-rush pushing undersized Ghuciuc and Steinbach right down the middle into Carson. Whitworth and Stepanovich would be about 60 extra lbs - a lot harder to bull-rush.

Correction he was a starter per hoboson.

http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=5936

Looking to bolster depth at center, the Bengals signed free agent Alex Stepanovich to a one-year deal Friday. The 6-4, 312-pound Stepanovich is a seasoned veteran of 30 starts with the Cardinals and is an Ohio State product Arizona selected in the fourth round of the 2004 draft.

Stepanovich didn’t miss a snap and became the first rookie center in Cardinals history to start every game in 2004. With the coaching change from Dennis Green to Ken Whisenhunt, he was not made a tender offer by Arizona that would have made him a restricted free agent.

No. He was a starter his rookie year, but was a back-up last year. He did start 9 games in '05 and 5 in '06, but he was primarily a back-up.

Yes, unless a "few" means starting almost 2/3 of the possible games in 3 years, not including games missed due to injury . Hardly the backup. I think he will help immensly at providing depth at o line. He was quite good in college, could make all the call and such and has good size. But I think this will be wilkersons year.

[JPW]

Cincinnati Post:

Stepanovich is not the first offensive lineman the Bengals have picked up after Arizona released him.

The Cardinals drafted Braham in the third round in 1994 but let him go halfway through that season.

The Bengals claimed him on waivers and Braham ended up starting 142 of the 146 games he played in a 13-year career in Cincinnati.

Let's hope history repeats itself ....

[Kirkendall]

The only reason this signing is getting any play is because of his OSU ties. This, at least to me, seems like another signing to fill the off-season roster to give others a shot to see what they can do -- we'll probably sign another 10 guys like this for try-out purposes. Not a signing that will make the roster unless he can play backup guard and center... well.

[HoosierCat]

This, at least to me, seems like another signing to fill the off-season roster to give others a shot to see what they can do -- we'll probably sign another 10 guys like this for try-out purposes.

For camp fodder, probably, but for tryouts, hard to say. Roster is already getting crowded. Counting the guys officially on the roster (including Pollack but not the NFLE junk), Justin and the RFAs, and Odell, the Bengals have 63 players. They still need to add one more in a backup QB, plus they'll need at least 3 slots for draft picks (figure the 5-7 rounders can go on the PS). So that's 14 that already have to go.

Figure they knock that down to 12 to start because C. Perry and D. Pollack start off the year on PUP.

Two of the three TEs -- Ghent, Gunther and Day -- can go. They have to keep one since the only other TE is Reggie Kelly. That leaves 10.

With Perry on PUP they keep either Wilson or Whitehead initially. 9 cuts left.

Axe CB Brandon Williams, FB Chris Mandarino, WR Skyler Green, G Nate Livings. 5 cuts left. My guess -- wave goodbye to Adam Keift, either Step or Wilkerson, S John Busing, QB/WR Reggie McNeal, and "the next Adalius Thomas" (per S. Smith) DE Eric Henderson.