There is a significant hole on this team...

[Luvnit2]

(08-04-2022, 12:39 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: and in my opinion, it's going to be the pass rush/secondary.

Both go hand in hand.

In 2020 the Bengals had arguably the worst pass rush in the NFL. They averaged a little over 1 sack a game. The Bengals knew how bad their pass rush was, so they brought in Larry Ogunjobi (7 sacks last year), Trey Hendrickson (14 sacks), and BJ Hill (5.5 sacks). In 2021, they more than doubled that sack per game average to 2.5 per game (11th in the NFL). Their pass rush was exponentially better in 2021 than it was in 2020. You can directly attribute this to the players they added.

Larry Ogunjobi averaged about 70% of the snaps last year, he won't be back on the team this year. BJ Hill averaged 49% of the snaps last year in the same position, effectively backing Larry up.

Here is Larry O's production from last year compared to BJ Hills:






We can argue back and fourth about which one is actually the better player, but one thing is for sure - the Bengals are basically counting on a combination of BJ Hill and Josh Tupuo to replace the production of Larry Ogunjobi and BJ Hill. Do you feel comfortable with Josh Tupuo getting 50% of the snaps next year and providing the kind of production that BJ Hill provided?

That is no bueno, especially for a team looking to make a Super Bowl run. My questions is this: if they felt the need to bring in BOTH BJ Hill and Larry Ogunjobi last year to help with the pass rush, why do they feel comfortable not supplementing BJ Hill with another quality option?

Only time will tell, but I REALLY think this comes back to bite them during the season. I think the pass rush will suffer this year and in turn I think the pass defense will suffer. It all starts with the defensive lines push - which has taken a pretty sizeable step back IMO.

I guess if you only take into account our losing Larry O. this would be a concern. But Carter will take some snaps and Ossai will take some pass rush snaps on 3rd down at DE pushing Hubbard inside.

As for the secondary, Apple got better as the year went on, Bates admitted he did not give 100% effort this first half of 2021. We also have a few rookies in the secondary that I think will surprise some fans named Britt and Hill. I think our defense will also be better in 2022 because our running game behind our new OL will be better, our 3rd down offensive efficiency will be better and we will be better in the redzone.

I am not worried, I am excited for 2022 for the Bengals to prove all of the naysayers wrong a 2nd year in a row. The experts flopped on predictions for the Bengals in 2021 and they are doubling down on the stupidity. This is a very good Bengals roster and like all good rosters they need to avoid key injuries (especially at QB). If they do, look out NFL in 2022.