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Maualuga Leaving = Justin Smith Leaving??

ArmyBengal

By ArmyBengal
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ArmyBengal Grand Master

ArmyBengal

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Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer offered a stout defense of middle linebacker Rey Maualuga on Sunday here at the NFL Scouting Combine and said he'd like to sign him back in free agency.

"He is, as you will find out when this free agency period starts, a lot better than what a lot of people give him credit for," said Zimmer, alluding to how defensive end Justin Smith became a Pro Bowler when he left Cincinnati. "I think that’s going to be what people are going to find out if he goes. If he’s not here people are going to miss him and say we should have had him. That’s how it works, like Justin Smith.”

Please enlighten me with this thought process.

Smith was always a high motor guy while he was here. Maualuga ?? Not so much.

Smith also changed schemes from a 4-3 (Bengals) to a 3-4 (49er's).

While I liked Smith when he was here, you can certainly question if he would have suceeded to the degree he has in San Fran, had he stayed in Cincinnati. If Maualuga leaves Cincinnati and goes to a 3-4 defense and succeeds, I wouldn't care. You can't compare the two. Now if he were to go to another 4-3 and do well, then that would surprise me.

This talk of him moving to the outside and it being a better fit is also crap in my opinion.

Does no one remember him constantly being out of position when pass covering ??

That didn't get better in the middle and won't get better moving him back outside to do it more.

Bottomline for me is that Maualuga just needs to go.

He was the worst MLB in the league last season and won't be any better on the outside.

Zimmer can say it all he wants, but I won't be one of the people who misses Maualuga.

I simply disagree.

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skyline Newbie

skyline

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Zimmer has had him for four years. I think we know what we have in Rey and it isn't much.

Yes, but there's a clear divide between Rey as MLB and Rey as SAM.

Rey at SAM is the guy that flashed so well we were all dying to move him to the middle.

I think that's the other half of Zimmer's point. If we let him go, there's a chance he ends up on another team playing at SAM where he flourishes and we all scratch our heads and wonder why we couldn't get the same production out of him.

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HoosierCat Grand Master

HoosierCat

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Sure, Rey flashed at SAM. He flashed at MIKE, too. But there's no consistency and no real hint of him developing it. And given his weird "Burfict is already better than me" bit from last preseason I'm not sure how much he wants to be here or even wants to play football. If someone else can make a star out of him, great, but I don't get any sense that's going to happen here.

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BengalByTheBay Newbie

BengalByTheBay

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I don't think the answer is moving him to the outside. To me it's one of two things. Either he (1) got comfortable and lazy and his play has significantly deteriorated as a result or, (2) the ankle injury was bad enough to make him run like a 30 yo with 9 seasons under his belt already. Either way, he can't cover and doesn't really hit with the weight he used to. He's gone from a playmaker with certain liabilities to a non-playmaker with numerous liabilities. I would only advocate for him to stay as depth at a reasonable contract number. I wouldn't hesitate to let him test FA as I can't believe that other teams view him any differently than I do. IMO the only chance he has of staying here is to fight for a SAM spot and if - as I suspect - he cannot win that spot, to accept playing backup. Under those circumstances, sure give him a chance. As for the Justin Smith analogy .... ummm no. Keith Rivers, maybe. Justin Smith, not a bit.

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skyline Newbie

skyline

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*shrug*

I'm not a fan of the guy, either, but I'm more than willing to admit that Zimmer knows far more about it than I do.

And, I still say that everyone needs to forget the Justin Smith comparison. He was just making a general point, not an air-tight comparison between the two players.

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Stripes Veteran

Stripes

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Rey already considers himself gone. He was recently quoted in a discussion about expectations for the Bengals in 2013, and he was using terms like "those guys" instead of "us". I'd offer the actual quote but I don't remember where I saw it.

Anyways, a lot of fans considered Justin Smith a solid player when he was here, even if he didn't fit as perfectly as he does in SF. The fanbase isn't so divided about Rey as a MLB.

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kingwilly Newbie

kingwilly

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Getting Howard back will help make the loss of Rey easier to palate. Ive watched the combine everyday and there are some beasts at LB this year. getting one pretty high could easily make Rey a distant memory.

As for Zimmer, he uses a poor example to make the comparison. Maybe it would be better to compare Rey to Brian Simmons, or Landon Johnson. Here they were decent but they left into obscurity. Rey barely reaches "decent" most of the time. Heck Burfict outplayed him in every way, coming in as an UDFA...

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ArmyBengal Grand Master

ArmyBengal

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No, he wasn't making an airtight comparison of them as players and maybe the title was a bit misleading.

Sorry I haven't been around today to clarify. Allow me to attempt.

The comparison he's making is stating that Smith left and turned into a probowl player.

I say he had the talent to always be a probowl player and the change of scheme, along with added talent, led to that.

The thought that somehow Rey would leave the Bengals and somehow become a probowl player is far fetched at best.

He never played at that level why he has been here and has given no reason to believe he ever will.

That's what I was getting at. So if the comparison is poor, it's on Zimmer's part. I'm also pretty sure he doesn't care that I disagree with his thought process here. However, if he's right and Maualuga is this untapped talent, then Zimmer has failed in Rey's 4 seasons here.

I don't want someone to flash ever great here and there, being the worst player at his position in the league.

He's entirely to much of a liability and I don't want to hear about his tackling stats.

How many were 10 yards down the field ?? Stats can be misleading.

If they want him as a backup, fine. I really don't want him at all.

I also wouldn't care if he did well somewhere else.

Sometimes a change of scenery does that for a player.

Reggie Nelson immediately comes to mind.

The Jags wrote him off as a 1st round bust.

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combatbengal Newbie

combatbengal

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I like Ray, but I have to agree with Army! Zimmer isn't going to get anymore out of Ray. In an interview a week or so ago on Serius Radio, Ray stated that Zimmer told him that he ask to may questions!! Check this out -
/>http://nflmocks.com/2013/02/22/2013-nfl-free-agents-middle-linebacker-rankings-and-predictions/

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ArmyBengal Grand Master

ArmyBengal

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I still can't get over the comments by Rey about how this UDFA already knew more than he did.

I'm still baffled when thinking about that.

I don't really even want him as a backup, but I guess the worst MLB in the league last season has to play somewhere huh ??

:frustrated:

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ShulaSteakhouse Proficient

ShulaSteakhouse

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Sure, Rey flashed at SAM. He flashed at MIKE, too. But there's no consistency and no real hint of him developing it. And given his weird "Burfict is already better than me" bit from last preseason I'm not sure how much he wants to be here or even wants to play football. If someone else can make a star out of him, great, but I don't get any sense that's going to happen here.

Agree with this. Not sure I get the comparison Zimmer makes either with Smith, who was much more productive while here, on really bad teams. LB's should be thriving here behind that d-line. So far Burfict is the only one who's shown any consistency.

Rey always seems to be around the ball, but he never makes plays, and his tackle #'s suck. He's not productive, may benefit from a change. Please just let him go already.

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ArmyBengal Grand Master

ArmyBengal

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He was slow as a MIKE. What makes anyone think that he'd be fast enough on the outside?

I have no idea. He didn't do it well when they first threw him out there to start.

The reason everyone wanted him moved to the middle is because it was his natural position he had played and Dhani wasn't the future.

Well, he has sucked at it.

Dedicated himself to an offseason regimen ?? Check.

Swore off alcohol after getting into some trouble ?? Check, but I don't think so.

Swore to be the role model leader type ?? Check.

Result ?? A bag and a half of SUCK.

Buh-bye...

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skyline Newbie

skyline

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He was slow as a MIKE. What makes anyone think that he'd be fast enough on the outside?

I'm certainly no expert, but I believe he has a harder time reading plays on the inside which makes him appear slow. Simplifying his decision-making should help.

I still remember the play where he lined up to cover Chris Rainey in the endzone, and I had already chalked up a TD for the Steelers. Surprisingly, he stayed with him step-for-step and made a great play. He's got the physical ability...I just think he may be struggling with the mental side of the game more than anything else.

But, hey, we'll see. He may not even be here next season which makes this whole conversation rather pointless. For all we know, Zimmer knows that he isn't coming back and was just trying to say something nice to the guy as a farewell gift tongue.gif

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COB Mentor

COB

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he has a harder time reading plays on the inside which makes him appear slow.

This is it exactly. He hesitates a beat before he starts moving, and that's all it takes to get beat in this league. He just doesn't recognize stuff quickly enough. Zimmer talked a lot of s**t about how much we'd miss him, he better turn this empty uniform into something this year.

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