07-13-2021, 02:11 PM
(07-13-2021, 12:53 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Fwiw, I am not a fan of the preseason at all. It could be that I'm permanently scarred from Kijana Carter, but I just don't think it does that much for a lot of the players. If I had my way, I wouldn't let 75% of the starters even see the field in preseason. I'd rather sacrifice them possibly having to shake off the rust for a few plays in Week 1 then risk a terrible injury in completely meaningless game that could potentially derail the entire season. And that goes for all types of players, not just guys who are coming off knee injuries.
So, that plays into it a lot for me with Joe. So when you add in his recovery time being so close I'd prefer to be safe. If they want him to take some hits I think they can expose him to that in practices and intrasquad scrimmages. And I think in a controlled environment they can simulate a lot of things (ex: pocket collapsing, guys bearing down on him, etc.)
I often look to college football (or even high school) as an example of not needing exhibition games. That's what scrimmages are for Sure, some teams open up with some cupcakes but there's always a few really good ranked games to open the season. And it's not like they don't have guys coming off injury or who haven't played yet. I just don't see why NFL guys need exhibitions to get ready. It's alway seemed like a money grab to me, just to throw on two extra home games to ticket packages and to make a little bit extra TV revenue.
So that's kind of where I'm coming from. It's not just Joe coming off an injury, it's that I hate the preseason in general. But when you combine the two (serious injury + preseason) I just don't think it's worth it. But I do get the other side too, that's why I thought it would make a good thread.
Trust me, i dislike preseason football because it's boring. You never see a playbook.
You hardly ever see the intensity of a regular season game.
I agree that I like seeing UDFA make teams becasue they come in with nothing guaranteed and bust their ass and a lot of times make the team.
If you look at Marvins regime, there were multiple UDFA's on those teams. Some great leaders Vinny Ray, Burfect, Kyle Cook, Erickson, Trey Hopkins, Kaesviharn, ect.
from 2019 class of Undrafted Free Agents who made a name for themselves? Stanley Morgan maybe? How about the 2020 Undrafted Free Agents? Again, looking at the 10 UDFA's we signed in 2020 maybe 1 eventually makes an impact? Washington (WR).
So lets look at 2021 UDFA class, The Bengals actally have a good UDFA class for the first time in Zac Taylor's career as a HC.
Pooka Williams
Drue Chrisman
Riley Lees
Darius Hodges
Those are the only 4 who i think have a chance at making this team.
You develop depth by hitting on your UDFA's something this team has truly sucked at since Marvin left.
**Sorry I got on a bit of a tangent talking about UDFA's and the only reason I enjoy the pre-season***
