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Brown, Tucker and Starks


icehole3

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No its not a Law firm. Orlando Brown Balt, Ryan Tucker Cle, Max Starks Pitt. Listening to Lapham this morning he was reviewing the Bengals on WLW. In his review his big concern was the teams in our division ability to run at will against our defense. Something to the effect of 162 yards a friggin game. Then he said that the key may well be Justin Smith lining up against the oppositions best run lineman the right tackle. His comment was "Justin better get some lead in his butt when he goes up against these guys." Im thinking wow...Smith isnt putting on any weight as of this point in time compared to last year. Now he was OK on the run last year...I'll give him that. His specialty is pass rush, what would make him any better against the run this year? On top of that we're lining Pollack up next to Smith at LOLB. Im not panicking, just a little concerned that as far as the run we may well be seeing a repeat of gapping holes in the running game. I guess thats why Marvin's no.1 concern according to this morning's Enquirer is making sure that our running game gets off to a good start because if you cant stop the run you'd better be able to run and eat up some clock.

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Smith is not exactly a weakling himself. His forte is speed which allowed him to run down some of the better rb's and qb's that we played last year. Bulking up imo wouldn't provide an advantage in overpowering these guys ( who just plain have more mass than he does ) and would / may slow him down taking away the advantage he does have.

Better to play to his strengths ..... which Bresnahan seems to be doing. He has trouble with dbl teaming ( who doesn't ? ) enter Pollack .... and switch him to the other side to take advantage of that speed.

I think we've got some ....... unanswered questions, but not real concerns per se. Coach Lewis will not tolerate a bottom ranked defense ....... Ask Frazier. :player:

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The right tackles in the AFC North are pretty good, but not great, Orlando Brown and Tucker are both I'd say just a bit over average.

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We should probably also mention that Bryan Robinson (who's forte is playing the run) will be the DT on that side this year.

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Good point. He's one of the unanswered questions that I was talking about tho. Not a concern .... because I think he'll be an upgrade. Now how much of an upgrade ??????? We'll just have to wait and see.

A couple of the others are the rookies ........ they look good coming in, but the proof is going to be seen on the field.

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The right tackles in the AFC North are pretty good, but not great, Orlando Brown and Tucker are both I'd say just a bit over average.

Yea, those two have been about average plus Brown is starting to get a bit "long-in-the-tooth" and it will be Max Starks' first year as a starter.

I would say that Big-Willie is far and away the best RT in the division ...

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The right tackles in the AFC North are pretty good, but not great, Orlando Brown and Tucker are both I'd say just a bit over average.

Yea, those two have been about average plus Brown is starting to get a bit "long-in-the-tooth" and it will be Max Starks' first year as a starter.

I would say that Big-Willie is far and away the best RT in the division ...

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Yeah, I know he is the best RT in the division and one of the best in the NFL, but that's not the three that were being talked about. Sorry I thought the periods were implying something.

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Don't get me wrong, I didn't say the point wasn't valid or without merit. On the other hand JPW's point about where these guys are in their careers as well as their level of talent in the first place is valid as well. Not to mention the fact that Smith has done pretty well up to this point as well.

Have to remember too that part of Laps job is to elicit a response and spark conversation. He seems to have done just that B) .

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I don't think it will be a problem. Our D-line is much better than it was last year and Pollack should take some of the pressure off Justin Smith, and he can line up on the other side on some plays.

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In theory the moves on the D-line sound good. Time to, as has been pointed out, see how it looks on the field. I think Justin will more than hold his own at his new home on the line, but we shall see.

Five days until actual on-the-field news and observations.

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All I know is Lapham thinks Smith is to small for those guys and he's concerned about Pollack being thrown into the fire hole where we had our biggest problem last year. He said the defense will need Pollack signed this week or it could go critical real fast.

I am not sure what he means about Smith being too small, it seems to me that he is about average size for a DE that plays in a 4-3 ?

Maybe is just looking at the size of the RTs and going by that ?

But no DE is going to match up with the bulk of those guys, you don't even want DEs with that kind of bulk.

I mean WTF Brown is like 360 ...

A good DE Wins his battles with a combination of speed, strength and agility.

Justin had all three he will do fine ...

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All I know is Lapham thinks Smith is to small for those guys and he's concerned about Pollack being thrown into the fire hole where we had our biggest problem last year. He said the defense will need Pollack signed this week or it could go critical real fast.

I am not sure what he means about Smith being too small, it seems to me that he is about average size for a DE that plays in a 4-3 ?

Maybe is just looking at the size of the RTs and going by that ?

But no DE is going to match up with the bulk of those guys, you don't even want DEs with that kind of bulk.

I mean WTF Brown is like 360 ...

A good DE Wins his battles with a combination of speed, strength and agility.

Justin had all three he will do fine ...

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Speak it brother!

;) he did just fine agaist the more athletic tackles so the chunky slow ones shoulden't be a problem ;()

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Smith would do fine against Brown, he's just a lard ass that gets pissed everytime something gets thrown in his eye. ;)

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My goodness.. how can you NOT be concerned about the front 7. Too many changes and unknowns not to be. If I'm counting right 6 out of 7 starters will more than likely either be rookies, new to the Bengals or starting a different position than last year. Plus a new (improved) D-Coordinator Don't get me wrong... The run defense was so porous last year changes needed to be made. And I agree with the ones they made. But because there are so many unknowns it has to be an area of concern.

IMHO the offense will have to carry the team for the first half of the season until the defense jells...

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The starting front 4 (Smith, Robinson, Thornton, Geathers) do seem like they are a group built for speed & pass rushing, not clogging up a hole. And, Lapham has been there, done that and has (presumably) good access to what's going on; so I take what he says seriously.

I am figuring on two things:

1) Hopefully Robinson is a good clogger and will help big-time against the run on his side. That would protect Pollack somewhat. Also, Pollack should be okay against the run if he's got some good beef in front of him on the line; after-all, he played DL in the SEC.

2) If J. Smith doesn't stand up to the run, or gets worn down, there will be some experience waiting to back him up, or give him a rest on running downs.

I think the DL will be an upgrade this year, and I expect some good pressure and big plays coming out of the defence on passing downs.

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