Why do you feel optimistic about this Bengals team relative to prior years?

[Yojimbo]

I have little hope due to Marvin and Dalton still steering the ship. The small glimmer of hope I do have comes from Hill, getting a few injured players back and hopefully some young guys taking the next step (Kirkpatrick, Dennard, Clarke and Thompson). But, I foresee another above average, squeak into the playoffs and exit in the first round again.