03-26-2017, 04:41 PM
(03-26-2017, 03:04 PM)SHRacerX Wrote: I totally get the emotion of losing Whit...he was my favorite Bengal for some time. However, the offensive line (I'm bound to get destroyed for this) could be substantially improved this year, especially when it comes to the running game.
Here's why:
From right to left:
Fisher was solid at RT once he finally landed there (and where he probably should have been all along). His second year at the position, and his third year in the NFL strength training program will only make him more valuable this year. I also liked his attitude. The offensive line didn't look bad at all after moving Ced out of there.
RG: A mystery, but at the very least a significantly better run blocker in Smith could pay real dividends here as he is otherwise facing probably being out of the league. If he comes in and is good at RG, he could get another contract and extend his career. Westerman and Johnson provide quality depth. There will undoubtedly be a draft pick spent here as well. Forrest Lamp, Dan Feeney, or even Pat Elfleing would be good choices here.
Center: He won't be worse, and like it or not, he did show significant improvement vs. a year ago. I could see them drafting Elflein in the second, especially if they get another pick by sliding in Rd 1. Either way, Bodine will be solid or pushed out of a job.
LG: Boling played most of last season injured and still held his own. One of the more underrated players on the team.
Johnson and a draft pick will back up.
LT: The big question mark: Can Ced at least be solid? Maybe, but I wouldn't risk it. I trade back in to the first and try to get Cam Robinson. The winner between those two gets LT. If it is Ced, Robinson moves to RG and becomes an All-Pro. I have to give the Bengals credit that they will do more than just hope Ced works out.
Lot of good points here SHRacer. Fisher has been moved around so much it is hard to blame him for not
playing great last year. To finally be put at RT and for him to stay there should help tons. Out of Andre,
Westerman, TJ and Hopkins, one of them should be decent. Like you said, Andre should be a significant
upgrade over Z in the run game.
Westerman was a great pass blocker in college so we might have pretty close to the same player as Z on
this team anyways. So true of Boling, dude is very underrated and i believe was much better than Zeitler
last year even with the injury, especially at run blocking.
Getting a Center like Elflein would help this team immediately i think. He would be too good to leave on
the bench his rookie year. Let Bodine be the backup, he might be good in this role.
Og better be pumping iron, i doubt we draft Cam Robinson but if we draft a guy like Moton, Fisher could
take Og's spot if he continues to struggle strength wise. These guys will improve, we just don't know how
much. We don't know if Whit will fall off this year either and it was the right move to let him go.
The Rams sure paid him good for a 36 year old OT for 3 years.
Hopefully Whit comes back and coaches for us when his time is up.
