12-02-2016, 12:16 PM
I go back to all the articles that have been written over the last two years that talked about the Bengals' window "closing" and how many on this board talked about that being nonsense and how the media either knows nothing about the team or has a grudge against them. You look at it now and it seems some of those writers may have known what they were talking about. Going back to the middle of last season, this team is 7-11-1. Even the final four games with Andy last year, they were 2-2.
I don't think this is going to be a quick rebound. I think there is a more than decent chance that both Zeitler and Kirkpatrick walk after this season. If Whitworth decides to come back, he is going to be 35 years old and you have to wonder when he play starts to fall off. Gio will be coming off a major knee injury and Hill appears to be an anomaly. It appears the organization missed on both Ogbuehi and Fisher (we have not seen much of Fisher, but you would think he would be playing if he were better than either Ced or Winston), so you have an offensive line with at least three holes. Pacman seems to have lost a couple steps this year (age), Dennard looks lost much of the time, Ioloka does not look like the same guy without Nelson, and Williams does not look like a full time NFL starter. The linebackers all look slow and none of them are good in coverage. Peko and Michael Johnson are at the very tail end of their careers.
So basically we have Andy, AJ, Eifert (free agent after next year), plus some young wide receivers that we hope are going to pan out (Boyd looks like he'll be ok). On defense we have Geno and Dunlap, and have to hope that Burfict decides to get in shape before next season and learns to behave (he is a free agent after next year).
This team has a lot of holes to fill, and it is not going to be done through one draft. I said it in another thread, I really think this team is in a down cycle. The truly scary part is that if it takes three years to start filling some of these holes, then guys like Geno, Andy, and AJ are in their early 30's and you have to worry about them starting to fall off. Free agency could really help, but we all know that's not going to happen...
I don't think this is going to be a quick rebound. I think there is a more than decent chance that both Zeitler and Kirkpatrick walk after this season. If Whitworth decides to come back, he is going to be 35 years old and you have to wonder when he play starts to fall off. Gio will be coming off a major knee injury and Hill appears to be an anomaly. It appears the organization missed on both Ogbuehi and Fisher (we have not seen much of Fisher, but you would think he would be playing if he were better than either Ced or Winston), so you have an offensive line with at least three holes. Pacman seems to have lost a couple steps this year (age), Dennard looks lost much of the time, Ioloka does not look like the same guy without Nelson, and Williams does not look like a full time NFL starter. The linebackers all look slow and none of them are good in coverage. Peko and Michael Johnson are at the very tail end of their careers.
So basically we have Andy, AJ, Eifert (free agent after next year), plus some young wide receivers that we hope are going to pan out (Boyd looks like he'll be ok). On defense we have Geno and Dunlap, and have to hope that Burfict decides to get in shape before next season and learns to behave (he is a free agent after next year).
This team has a lot of holes to fill, and it is not going to be done through one draft. I said it in another thread, I really think this team is in a down cycle. The truly scary part is that if it takes three years to start filling some of these holes, then guys like Geno, Andy, and AJ are in their early 30's and you have to worry about them starting to fall off. Free agency could really help, but we all know that's not going to happen...
