Jump to content

Clayton on Bengals

Kirkendall

By Kirkendall
in Cincinnati Bengals

 Share

Recommended Posts

derekshank Newbie

derekshank

Posted
Posted

Wow, Clayton is usually pretty down on Cincy (and rightly so). But quotes like these

With Pollack, Thurman and Simmons, the Bengals have one of the best linebacking corps in the league

The energy and excitement created by Pollack and Thurman put the Bengals' defense in position to jump into the top 10.

These make him sound almost like a Bengals homer, which he clearly is not. I remember he even said he felt bad for Marvin Lewis for taking the Cincy job, because there was so little chance for him to suceed. Now, he's saying two rookies can be one of the best LB corps in the league?

Good work ML. You've successfuly changed our image for even the usual doubters. I've been a bit afraid to drink the kool-aid about our defense, but Clayton has taken me one step closer, simply because he is knowledgable, and more importantly, not a Bengals fan.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AMC Newbie

AMC

Posted
Posted

Now that's an article that brings everything full circle. It is awesome how much Marvin Lewis gets respect from those 'in the know'.

I'm in Tampa and I remember Rich McKay wanted Marvin Lewis as coach but was trumped by the Glazers into trading the future for Gruden.

Lewis is one respected man. Best thing the Bengals ever did!

:player: :player: :player: :player:

Native Cincinnatian in Tampa!!!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HairOnFire Newbie

HairOnFire

Posted
Posted

Very nice article. My highlites include...

Lewis strongly pimping Chris Henry - Maybe that one registered with me because of all of the silly Kevin Walter crap. Wanna know who's pressuring Washington and Warrick? Hint: It's not the gunner.

Lewis finally being able to put his stamp on the D - We lived through it so it's nothing new, but for me there was something different about reading the opinion of an impartial observer concerning the loss of Spikes and the resulting delay in Marvin's ability to revamp the defense. Reading about how that has changed due to the drafting of Pollack and Thurman just put a bow on the whole Spikes/Hardy history.

Palmer - Here's the really cool thing about Palmer. People with no emotional link to the Bengals can see it coming. There's no need to offer praise with equal amounts of qualifiers. And most importantly, there are no whispers or hushed giggles this time. Just growing respect for a player that many see as one of the NFL's next generation of elite players.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HoosierCat Grand Master

HoosierCat

Posted
Posted

Good piece. The only thing I'd take issue with is this:

Before Lewis, Bengals [free agent] offers were used only as leverage against more promising franchises. In addition, Cincinnati has drafted well under Lewis.

No arguing the first sentence, but the second remains to be seen. Really, we are now reaping the fruits of the LeBeau-era drafts. Rudi, Chad, TJ, Justin, Levi, even Warrick. Not that guys like Palmer and Steinbach haven't contributed, but as much as Dick is reviled for the 2-14 '02 season...he poured the foundation.

That, IMHO, is worth noting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
membengal Mentor

membengal

Posted
Posted
Very nice article. My highlites include...

Lewis strongly pimping Chris Henry - Maybe that one registered with me because of all of the silly Kevin Walter crap. Wanna know who's pressuring Washington and Warrick? Hint: It's not the gunner.

Lewis finally being able to put his stamp on the D - We lived through it so it's nothing new, but for me there was something different about reading the opinion of an impartial observer concerning the loss of Spikes and the resulting delay in Marvin's ability to revamp the defense. Reading about how that has changed due to the drafting of Pollack and Thurman just put a bow on the whole Spikes/Hardy history.

Palmer - Here's the really cool thing about Palmer. People with no emotional link to the Bengals can see it coming. There's no need to offer praise with equal amounts of qualifiers. And most importantly, there are no whispers or hushed giggles this time. Just growing respect for a player that many see as one of the NFL's next generation of elite players.

Sigh. On the Walter thing, you-who-beats-horse...for my part, I have already moved Henry ahead of Washington. So, since I am valuing Walter for his special teams stuff and taking a wait-and-see on the pass-catching stuff (since I also did not see the mini-camp goodness many have written about), I have Washington being pushed for a roster spot by Walter. Henry is not a part of that particular equation.

Btw, completely agree with you on the Palmer and LB paragraphs of your post.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HairOnFire Newbie

HairOnFire

Posted
Posted
On the Walter thing, you-who-beats-horse...for my part, I have already moved Henry ahead of Washington. So, since I am valuing Walter for his special teams stuff and taking a wait-and-see on the pass-catching stuff (since I also did not see the mini-camp goodness many have written about), I have Washington being pushed for a roster spot by Walter. Henry is not a part of that particular equation.

You-who-beats-horse?

Is that my new injun name?

Not sure I like it as well as my old one.

Him-with-huge-third-leg.

Back on point, your argument is largely semantic. You're claiming that Washington and Henry aren't in competition because Henry has already passed Washington. Meanwhile, despite his modest and completely unproven abilities as a wideout you've somehow got Walters in direct competition with Washington despite the fact that you currently value Walters soley for his special team contributions.

In other words, you've downplayed the idea of any real direct competition between Washington and Walters as wideouts....exactly the same idea you may have stumbled across in my own horse beating exercises. Whenever you guys get right down to the bone you always back away from considering Walters a true threat as a wideout and then give him a pass, full or partial, based upon his real job as a speacial teams role player. It's almost like saying Brad St.Louis is engaged in heated competition as a TE.

To be fair, you claim that the competition is due to the roster push that Washington and Walter share, but there's going to be a numbers crunch at any number of positions as well as decisions made about whether to keep an extra player at LB, CB, or WR. So Walters and Washington are in direct competition about as much as Washington and Greg Brooks might be. Both players might be competing for the last roster spot, right?

Frankly, this entire series of Kevin Walter rants smacks of the old Lamont Thompson threads where fans propped up pretend competition at safety before ignoring the fact that the so-called last roster spot was saved for the fabulous special team contributions of Tito Rodriquez. The fact remains that Thompson was cut loose for reasons that related to him alone, and he and Rodriquez were never in direct competiton for the same playing role.

Sound familiar?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
derekshank Newbie

derekshank

Posted
Posted
Good piece. The only thing I'd take issue with is this:
Before Lewis, Bengals [free agent] offers were used only as leverage against more promising franchises. In addition, Cincinnati has drafted well under Lewis.

No arguing the first sentence, but the second remains to be seen. Really, we are now reaping the fruits of the LeBeau-era drafts. Rudi, Chad, TJ, Justin, Levi, even Warrick. Not that guys like Palmer and Steinbach haven't contributed, but as much as Dick is reviled for the 2-14 '02 season...he poured the foundation.

That, IMHO, is worth noting.

Fair enough. You can give a lot of credit to Lebeau for the offensive side of the ball. Even though guys like Jeremi Johnson, Shayne Graham, and backups like Stacy Andrews (and we'll see with Chris Perry) are Marvin Lewis picks

But three is no denying that any production on the defensive side of the ball will be all to Marvin Lewis' credit. He has brought in guys like Tory James, Deltha O'Neil, Kim Herring, Duane Clemons, Carl Powell, and Bryan Robinson.

He's also drafted guys like Madeiu Williams, Landon Johnson, Robert Geathers, and Keiwan Ratliff. Not to mention serviceable backups like Langston Moore, and (hopefully) Matthias Askew. (I have left out our current rookie starters, because those are obvious).

His drafting has proved to be more than adequate. There have been some picks that haven't worked out like Weathersby, Chris Perry has yet to be seen, and Caleb Miller may have been a bit early, but there is no doubt that many, if not most of the guys he has drafted are doing their share.

So on the offensive side of the ball, Lebeau can get some credit, (even for Carson Palmer, since it was his 2-14 record that gave him to us). but Marvin Lewis deserves his credit too for the past 3 years of drafting. And I think that is the point that Clayton is making. I mean, look... the only starters that Lewis didn't bring in himself are Simmons, Justin Smith, and Thornton. Everyone else, even backups, are all Marvin Lewis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
derekshank Newbie

derekshank

Posted
Posted
So Walters and Washington are in direct competition about as much as Washington and Greg Brooks might be. Both players might be competing for the last roster spot, right?

That's the best point you've made yet about Walters. Too bad you had to beat that third leg to make it... wait, is that right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
johnson85 Newbie

johnson85

Posted
Posted

:player:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/stor...john&id=2096905

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...