Bully up to the bar, boys!

[HoosierCat]

One thing that I think gets missed in all of this:

A coach can only coach players who want to be coached.

It's hard to do much with the Levis and Stacys and Willies of the world who aren't happy/feel underappreciated/want more money and don't show up again after week 17 until mandatory camps.

That's what we had 2006-2008.

This offseason, what did PA have? Yeah, on paper they have way less talent, a bunch of late-round and undrafted players -- but they wanted to be here. They wanted to prove to 31 other teams how badly they effed up. They sat down, studied film, got inside each others' heads, did the whole "Band of Brothers" thing. For the most part, we have a bunch of p*ssed off guys who got told they couldn't play in the NFL and decided to do something about it.

What was it Lewis yelled after that preseason loss? "It's YOUR team. Find a way to fix it!"

That isn't to minimize PA's contributions. But it's a whole hell of a lot easier to coach a bunch of guys up when they are there and asking to be coached up.

So props to PA...and props to every single player on that line.

[Pidge]

Can we please get on topic here?

I want to have Paul Alexander's Baby!

I like what he has done to get guys like Cook and Roland playing at an elite level. I do not hold it against him that he could not do the same with Gaychick, or convert Andrews form a shotputter to an NFL RT. It is also not his fault Levi Jones knees aged at an accelerated rate.

this line could be alexander's opus.

I will give him props for exceeding expectations. But, let's be honest, this is the first time he has ever done so. I still believe they burn far too many high draft picks on the OL, with very little return. At least now they are getting a return on their investment. And you are right about Cook and Roland. I have challenged anyone to name a Paul Alexander success story. I believe both were undrafted FA's so they would definitely qualify. I will gladly eat crow if he can maintain this type of success.

These last few yrs, Whit in the second is about the only high pick I can remember and Andre this yr of course.

In fact, looking into it a little further, for the 15 yrs PA has been the OL coach, there have been precisely 5 O-linemen drafted in the top 2 rnds of the draft. Or, one every 3 yrs. Too many? Really? Frankly, I'm astonished at such a low number. My appreciation for his efforts grows by the minute tbh.

Prior to this year, the only above average line that PA fielded consisted of two Free Agents (signed from other teams), a projected first rounder that slipped to the 2nd round and 2 TOP TEN draft picks. I can not think of another team that had to burn two top 10 draft picks in order to achieve a decent line.

But, things are looking different this year. I just hope it continues.

3 whole top ten draft picks? In 15 yrs. I'm not being funny but reading your earlier post makes the situation seem very different, unless one looked a little closer. If anything, looking into the various drafting practices of the Bengals in almost 20 yrs, a not inconsiderable amount of time (I'm sure you'll agree), the O-line has largely been below average to outright s**t due to neglect.

This assumes PA has the say on who gets drafted when as well which is a pretty humongous assumption.