04-17-2022, 10:11 PM
(04-17-2022, 09:37 PM)AtomicBlaze Wrote: I wish we would sign J.C. Tretter so that we had more depth and could let Carman earn a spot rather than giving him a spot he hasn't earned. I really believe that the offensive line is only as good as your weakest link. Good D-Lines will expose any weakness. I remember back when we had a solid line other than Eric Ghiaciuc and we refused to upgrade that spot for years. I feel like we are going to do the same thing with Carman for some reason. I also firmly believe that back injuries are very unpredictable, so we will never be able to count on him even if he plays well initially. I will always doubt that he will make it through a full season. Will he even be able to strength train properly with his bad back? I bet his value is almost nothing if we tried to trade him, he is barely backup material. I hope if we don't sign J.C. Tretter that we at least draft someone that is capable should Carman disappoint. It sucks that we are stopping short of a full rebuild of the O-Line. Especially when someone capable like J.C. Tretter is out there in free agency.
I could be wrong but I think that Karras is about the same as Hopkins as center goes and not much of an upgrade. But what he gives you is the ability to play guard where Hopkins did not. So I think this points to the Bengals wanting to keep there options open and allow some flexibility in the draft. I really think with how a lot of mock drafts have worked out Offensive line might be BPA at 31 so we could be keeping our options open whether it's guard or center available.
I've also wanted the Bengals to sign another player or maybe two to open up the draft even more. But my hope is the Bengals don't know how the draft is gonna work out and when it's all said and done the can revisit the free agent market to fill any voids or add draft. But I'm completely with you on Carman. I want him to step up and be a starter but I don't want to count on that and I would rather add a potential starter and let the best ones play. I also don't think that's us giving up on Carman as even if he's not a day one starter it's extremely unlikely he's not gonna be counted on to play and potentially start this season.
