Orien Harris re-signed

[kingwilly]

where he played well but got caught in a numbers game, and was available immediately. What's not to like?

He was traded, ie expendable. not exactly caught in a numbers game. he could not stick, despite almost a whole season of playing ahead of Fanaene and Shirley.

I don't think they make any more moves at DT unless there are more injuries or Harris just completely stinks.

When STL and Detroit do not want you, it does make you scratch your head and wonder just what is it that the Bengals see in him...

He will probably play extra hard, since this may be his last shot in the league. <heavy sarcasm>

[volcom69]

I knew they were not going to do anything, and i didnt really like this guy while he was here, they still dont have a good edge pass rusher, Geathers is not very good at all, Frostee is always hurt, and please just please let MJ be something really special, because right now thats what this team needs. DT postion is hurtin Tank playing hurt and not at his high level,Peko is hurt, Sims is ok, and getting better, Fanene is the best we have and thats pretty bad if thats all they have. This D-line is once again the weekness of this defense which will make the DBs look horrible, heck they are already giving up so many big plays it pathetic. LB's cant cover, they cant play the screen game, im sorry but im losing confidense in this defense. I was so excited after that first game in Denver i thought wow we could really have ourselves a great defense, but ever since that game they have been going backwards, giving up more big plays, and now with the best D-lineman out there will be no pressure.

I wanna know why there are not blitzes going on, what happened? I watch Denver defense who has a cast of alot of nobody guys that teams didnt want anymore, and watch there blitzing, watch there d-line which has a bunch of nobodys getting great push and pressure, and its because of the blitz. Watch that Denver game watch that Ravens game look at the blitzes Zimmer puts in it creates all sort of pressure. Why dosnt he do this everyweek? I hope im wrong, but im not liking where this is going, and i hope they prove me wrong.

[blueridge]

They had a chance to make a serious move to improve the D and they did not take the chance.

And what move, pray tell, is that? I'm not seeing too many Pro Bowl defensive linemen hanging around on the street.

a move, as in trade.

Philly made a deal with STL for Whitherspoon

Carolina made a deal with KC for DT Tank Tyler

Glen Dorsey could have been obtained...maybe a steep price but would rather have given up a couple of picks and gotten Dorsey than awaiting Harris. Well, at least we have our full complement of picks. Why not bing in Ventrell Jenkins...he was just here and is probably cheaper than Harris.

Many players were discussed in terms of going after. Adalius Thomas is a guy who I think could have been obtained by the pick-hoarding Patriots. Quentin Groves is another guy who fit the bill.

The Colts cut Ed Johnston....He is on the street.

The ONLY upside to Harris is he has sent time in Zimmer's defense recently.

Still not liking how this is turning out.

Adalius Thomas is a LB with a huge contract that the Patriots benched. The "pick-hoarding Patriots" feast on idiot teams who give up draft picks for their trash. No thanks.Quentin Groves is a bust with Jacksonville-a (sad)sack guy who can't get to the QB in the NFL.No thanks. Dorsey looks like a bust with Kansas City and carries with him another big contract as a recent top 5 pick. No thanks.Ed Johnson is Ed Johnson. Big Deal. The Bengals wanted a depth guy for the DT rotation, and they get that in Harris. Yawn. I guess Marvin Lewis wasn't in panic mode. Good for him. I'm glad they didn't trade for someone else's stiff. Harris will do for now.

[HoosierCat]

He was traded, ie expendable. not exactly caught in a numbers game. he could not stick, despite almost a whole season of playing ahead of Fanaene and Shirley.

Well, Shirley didn't stick, either, and Fanene is a different kind of player, a hybrid DT/DE (beloved of marvin, recall) while Harris is a pure DT. Is he better than Tank? No. Were they going to keep him over a promising Sims or a Peko they just gave $25 million to? No.

When STL and Detroit do not want you, it does make you scratch your head and wonder just what is it that the Bengals see in him...

Well, it is true that Detroit and St. Louis are known for their excellent personnel evaluation capabilities...

[blueridge]

I knew they were not going to do anything, and i didnt really like this guy while he was here, they still dont have a good edge pass rusher, Geathers is not very good at all, Frostee is always hurt, and please just please let MJ be something really special, because right now thats what this team needs. DT postion is hurtin Tank playing hurt and not at his high level,Peko is hurt, Sims is ok, and getting better, Fanene is the best we have and thats pretty bad if thats all they have. This D-line is once again the weekness of this defense which will make the DBs look horrible, heck they are already giving up so many big plays it pathetic. LB's cant cover, they cant play the screen game, im sorry but im losing confidense in this defense. I was so excited after that first game in Denver i thought wow we could really have ourselves a great defense, but ever since that game they have been going backwards, giving up more big plays, and now with the best D-lineman out there will be no pressure.

I wanna know why there are not blitzes going on, what happened? I watch Denver defense who has a cast of alot of nobody guys that teams didnt want anymore, and watch there blitzing, watch there d-line which has a bunch of nobodys getting great push and pressure, and its because of the blitz. Watch that Denver game watch that Ravens game look at the blitzes Zimmer puts in it creates all sort of pressure. Why dosnt he do this everyweek? I hope im wrong, but im not liking where this is going, and i hope they prove me wrong.

This is what full almost-unhinged panic mode looks like.

[HoosierCat]

I knew they were not going to do anything, and i didnt really like this guy while he was here, they still dont have a good edge pass rusher, Geathers is not very good at all, Frostee is always hurt, and please just please let MJ be something really special, because right now thats what this team needs. DT postion is hurtin Tank playing hurt and not at his high level,Peko is hurt, Sims is ok, and getting better, Fanene is the best we have and thats pretty bad if thats all they have. This D-line is once again the weekness of this defense which will make the DBs look horrible, heck they are already giving up so many big plays it pathetic. LB's cant cover, they cant play the screen game, im sorry but im losing confidense in this defense. I was so excited after that first game in Denver i thought wow we could really have ourselves a great defense, but ever since that game they have been going backwards, giving up more big plays, and now with the best D-lineman out there will be no pressure.

I wanna know why there are not blitzes going on, what happened? I watch Denver defense who has a cast of alot of nobody guys that teams didnt want anymore, and watch there blitzing, watch there d-line which has a bunch of nobodys getting great push and pressure, and its because of the blitz. Watch that Denver game watch that Ravens game look at the blitzes Zimmer puts in it creates all sort of pressure. Why dosnt he do this everyweek? I hope im wrong, but im not liking where this is going, and i hope they prove me wrong.

This is what full almost-unhinged panic mode looks like.

Seriously. Odom was a nonfactor last season, Tank and Roy were in Dallas and Harris was here, Maualuga and Johnson were in college, and we still ended up 12th. Calm down.

[cincyhokie]

I knew they were not going to do anything, and i didnt really like this guy while he was here, they still dont have a good edge pass rusher, Geathers is not very good at all, Frostee is always hurt, and please just please let MJ be something really special, because right now thats what this team needs. DT postion is hurtin Tank playing hurt and not at his high level,Peko is hurt, Sims is ok, and getting better, Fanene is the best we have and thats pretty bad if thats all they have. This D-line is once again the weekness of this defense which will make the DBs look horrible, heck they are already giving up so many big plays it pathetic. LB's cant cover, they cant play the screen game, im sorry but im losing confidense in this defense. I was so excited after that first game in Denver i thought wow we could really have ourselves a great defense, but ever since that game they have been going backwards, giving up more big plays, and now with the best D-lineman out there will be no pressure.

I wanna know why there are not blitzes going on, what happened? I watch Denver defense who has a cast of alot of nobody guys that teams didnt want anymore, and watch there blitzing, watch there d-line which has a bunch of nobodys getting great push and pressure, and its because of the blitz. Watch that Denver game watch that Ravens game look at the blitzes Zimmer puts in it creates all sort of pressure. Why dosnt he do this everyweek? I hope im wrong, but im not liking where this is going, and i hope they prove me wrong.

Against Houston they looked bad but the week before against Baltimore was the best game this defense has played all year.

[blueridge]

It's not flashy but Harris knows Zimmer's system even though he was cut by the Lions and Rams. Players are moved or let go all the time and work out better in other teams systems. Need to look no further than how the Rams gave up on Leonard by trading him. He's done pretty well here so far.

Harris did pretty well here last year and from what I remember came onto the team in the second half of the season when the team went 4-3-1. It's not the trade or move we may have wanted but it may be the smartest move. Peko is out for this week and it's good we got someone in that knows the defense NOW.

The more I think about it, the happier I am to have Harris back. Not that I believe he's going to be an instant stud or anything, but he is a guy I liked coming out in '06 who has never really been in a situation where he could be developed.

Harris was an above-average prospect in '06 who had the misfortune of being drafted by Pitt in the 4th round. No, Pitt isn't a bad organization to be chosen by, but breaking into the defensive ranks there is tough even for first-round picks (ask Timmons or Hood). From there it was Cleveland in '07, NO and Cincy in '08, and Cincy, St. Louis and Detroit, and now Cincy again, in '09. Little surprise he's played in 16 whole games, 14 of them last season for the Bengals. And little surprise he hasn't shown a whole lot. Hard to do that when you're learning a new playbook every week.

So what the heck. Let's see if he learned anything last year.

I am shocked there is not more negative reaction. Yes, they could have picked a WORSE substitution...maybe Shaun Smith?

They had a chance to make a serious move to improve the D and they did not take the chance.

Imagine if Benson went down and they brought Qunicy Wilson back? That is akin to what we have in signing Harris.

I think the lack of bold action in response to losing Odom will seriously hamper this team.

hooray. orien harris. at least it wasn't shaun smith. yippeee.

Let's look at it this way, it's Tuesday and we needed to fill Peko's spot for this Sunday. Practice starts up again tomorrow for the Bears game. Harris knows the system and was servicable last year. They may not be done making moves with the front 4 and signing Harris I think was the BEST move they could have made for the upcoming game in which they need to win.

In fact, this move I think was soley in response to Peko being injured for this week. When Peko comes back and can play I would assume they will make a move for a DE or sign McDonald. This may have nothing to do in response to losing Odom.

Bull's eye. It was all about Peko. As to the other poster, if Cedric Benson went down they would replace him with B. Scott and Leonard and probably bring James Johnson up from the practice squad. They wouldn't go out and trade draft picks for Larry Johnson to be the third tailback.

[kingwilly]

Let's look at it this way, it's Tuesday and we needed to fill Peko's spot for this Sunday. Practice starts up again tomorrow for the Bears game. Harris knows the system and was servicable last year. They may not be done making moves with the front 4 and signing Harris I think was the BEST move they could have made for the upcoming game in which they need to win.

In fact, this move I think was soley in response to Peko being injured for this week. When Peko comes back and can play I would assume they will make a move for a DE or sign McDonald. This may have nothing to do in response to losing Odom.

Bull's eye. It was all about Peko. As to the other poster, if Cedric Benson went down they would replace him with B. Scott and Leonard and probably bring James Johnson up from the practice squad. They wouldn't go out and trade draft picks for Larry Johnson to be the third tailback.

[volcom69]

I knew they were not going to do anything, and i didnt really like this guy while he was here, they still dont have a good edge pass rusher, Geathers is not very good at all, Frostee is always hurt, and please just please let MJ be something really special, because right now thats what this team needs. DT postion is hurtin Tank playing hurt and not at his high level,Peko is hurt, Sims is ok, and getting better, Fanene is the best we have and thats pretty bad if thats all they have. This D-line is once again the weekness of this defense which will make the DBs look horrible, heck they are already giving up so many big plays it pathetic. LB's cant cover, they cant play the screen game, im sorry but im losing confidense in this defense. I was so excited after that first game in Denver i thought wow we could really have ourselves a great defense, but ever since that game they have been going backwards, giving up more big plays, and now with the best D-lineman out there will be no pressure.

I wanna know why there are not blitzes going on, what happened? I watch Denver defense who has a cast of alot of nobody guys that teams didnt want anymore, and watch there blitzing, watch there d-line which has a bunch of nobodys getting great push and pressure, and its because of the blitz. Watch that Denver game watch that Ravens game look at the blitzes Zimmer puts in it creates all sort of pressure. Why dosnt he do this everyweek? I hope im wrong, but im not liking where this is going, and i hope they prove me wrong.

Against Houston they looked bad but the week before against Baltimore was the best game this defense has played all year.

Tells me they are very inconsistant, against Dever and Baltimore they looked great, look at the other games they were giving up big plays everywhere, and they were getting no pressure in those games. When they play great they are getting great pressure and blitzing like crazy, i just dont understand why Zimmer decideds to stop blitzin. If they dont they wont get pressure anymore, not by the front 4 thats out there. Call it panic if you want, but heck yea im worried about this defense, i never seen so many big plays givin up, and without any pressure its only going to get worse. Hey whatever if they prove me wrong then great!

[SupaBran]

I don't know why everyone thinks we have one of the greatest defenses of all time! We lead the league in allowing the most plays of 20yds or more. Sure they had 2 outstanding days but not Top 10 material. I'm worried about them now more so b/c of how s**tty and inconsistent this offense is

[Kazkal]

Bull's eye. It was all about Peko. As to the other poster, if Cedric Benson went down they would replace him with B. Scott and Leonard and probably bring James Johnson up from the practice squad. They wouldn't go out and trade draft picks for Larry Johnson to be the third tailback.

my money would be James stays on Practice & we resign Dede.

I don't know why everyone thinks we have one of the greatest defenses of all time! We lead the league in allowing the most plays of 20yds or more. Sure they had 2 outstanding days but not Top 10 material. I'm worried about them now more so b/c of how s**tty and inconsistent this offense is

I don't mind the 20+ thing aslong as were holding them to 0-3 points,Which outside Houston we were doing good job...

Most of them also came against the Steelers who get alot of big plays because of Bens unwillingness to go down. (hines leads WR's with 10 20+ yard catches.

[redsbengalsbucks]

Seems to me the Harris will be a breather player for the DT's, since Fanene is not going to be playing DT as much now. He should be able to give the DT's a break from time to time without being a big liability.

[Ickey44]

Seems to me the Harris will be a breather player for the DT's, since Fanene is not going to be playing DT as much now. He should be able to give the DT's a break from time to time without being a big liability.

I don't know that that's true. Tank is still battling his injury and he isn't 100% either. We're hurting on the DL right now....