I was really hoping for a slobberknocker of an opener. Detroit, Buffalo, Denver, hell even Green Bay. Would have loved to seen a team that they had to get amped up for in week 1.
I'm not as sideways about slow starts. It's just the duration of them. It seemed like more of a slow entire first half last season. Even when the offense got going, the defense just never had the horses to hold the line.
I have several issues with Zac as HC, but I kind of understand the emphasis on rounding a team into shape for the most important stretch of the season. The years that they were good, they were doing damn near everything right by early November. They looked like a championship team in 22 before the OL injuries.
To me, it's less about the start and more about the defense and personnel, and that's going to take awhile to determine.
I'm fine with losing a game or 2 in September. I'm not fine with losing games where were score 35-40.
lying season baby. They got me...I'm fired up. How's Armon Binns looking?
Looks like Bengals are currently planning on the following starting OL based on practices:
LT - OBJ
LG - Fairchild
C - Karras
RG - Patrick
RT - Mims
That would make sense given Fairchild was the starting LG at Georgia, so staying at LG should be easier for him.
Lucas Patrick though hasn't played significant snaps at RG since 2020. That season, he played 708 of his 939 offensive snaps at RG, allowing 3 sacks and 16 total pressures across those 939 offensive snaps. I don't have the breakdown just for RG snaps.
(05-29-2025, 11:55 AM)ochocincos Wrote: [ -> ]Looks like Bengals are currently planning on the following starting OL based on practices:
LT - OBJ
LG - Fairchild
C - Karras
RG - Patrick
RT - Mims
That would make sense given Fairchild was the starting LG at Georgia, so staying at LG should be easier for him.
Lucas Patrick though hasn't played significant snaps at RG since 2020. That season, he played 708 of his 939 offensive snaps at RG, allowing 3 sacks and 16 total pressures across those 939 offensive snaps. I don't have the breakdown just for RG snaps.
This is what I thought the first team OL would be.
Would have preferred a higher caliber vet like Scherff but at least they are not rolling out the same 2 turnstile guards from last year.
It appears that Jordan Moore our UDFA WR out of Duke is getting some notice in the OTAs. What I would like to know is how stacked must this year's WR class have been for a 2 time All-ACC player to go undrafted?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/bengals-undrafted-free-agent-already-garnering-hype-at-cincinnati-s-otas/ar-AA1FIT3y?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=41f3d57b8efd41bbf361cc49e8becfdf&ei=10
Quote:After failing to make the postseason in 2024, the Cincinnati Bengals have re-tooled this offseason with the hopes of getting back to playoffs for the first time since their AFC championship loss in 2022.
Over the last few months, they've replaced their defensive coordinator, moved on from a bunch of veterans, signed a few themselves and added a slew of rookies both as draft picks and undrafted free agents.
In total, Cincinnati signed 13 undrafted players to their roster this offseason, with eight on the offensive side of the ball, four on defense and one long snapper.
While the group is made up of talented first-year players, wide receiver Jordan Moore is already turning heads and receiving praise from his coaches at the Bengals' organized teams activities (OTAs).
"He's an A+ young man, fits our culture, and wants to be great," Bengals wideout coach Troy Walters told Bengals radio voice Dan Hoard. "He's coachable, and I'm excited to have him as one of our guys."
Moore, 23, was a three-star recruit out of Loyola Blakefield in Towson, Maryland before committing to Duke University for the 2021 season.
Over his four seasons with the Blue Devils, the 6-foot, 188-pound wideout appeared in 48 games, catching 172 passes for 2,289 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushing for another 256 yards and three scores on 4.9 yards per attempt. He also earned All-ACC honors in his final two collegiate seasons.
Cincinnati has a pretty deep wide receiver room with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins leading the pack and Andrei Iosivas lining up in the slot. Moore would have to really impress if he wants to earn a spot over guys like Jermain Burton, Charlie Jones, Kendric Pryor, Cole Burgess, Isaiah Williams, Mitchell Tinsley and two other undrafted rookies (Rashod Owens and Jamoi Mayes).
If he shows out throughout the rest of the offseason program, the undrafted rookie could end serving as a depth option in Cincinnati's wide receiver room as well as a special teams contributor in his first professional season.
(05-29-2025, 11:55 AM)ochocincos Wrote: [ -> ]Looks like Bengals are currently planning on the following starting OL based on practices:
LT - OBJ
LG - Fairchild
C - Karras
RG - Patrick
RT - Mims
That would make sense given Fairchild was the starting LG at Georgia, so staying at LG should be easier for him.
Lucas Patrick though hasn't played significant snaps at RG since 2020. That season, he played 708 of his 939 offensive snaps at RG, allowing 3 sacks and 16 total pressures across those 939 offensive snaps. I don't have the breakdown just for RG snaps.
Exactly what I thought the starting OL would look like and I think it should be an upgrade over the Volson/Cappa line.
Plus with Mims going into his second season and having great experience, he should be better. Karras not having to play with the
worst Guards in the NFL on both sides of him should also help him.
(05-29-2025, 12:08 PM)Clark W Griswold Wrote: [ -> ]This is what I thought the first team OL would be.
Would have preferred a higher caliber vet like Scherff but at least they are not rolling out the same 2 turnstile guards from last year.
Yeah, I would still like to add Risner or Scherff myself as insurance.
Maybe Hernandez is on their minds once he gets healthy and fits the scheme better I don't know.
(05-29-2025, 01:37 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: [ -> ]Exactly what I thought the starting OL would look like and I think it should be an upgrade over the Volson/Cappa line.
Plus with Mims going into his second season and having great experience, he should be better. Karras not having to play with the
worst Guards in the NFL on both sides of him should also help him.
I'm probably more negative of Lucas Patrick than I should be, but the dude hasn't played significant snaps at RG since 2020.
Between his nearly 500 snaps at LG last year and >900 snaps at both OG spots in 2020 though (the only two years he played a good number of snaps at OG), he only allowed 3 sacks and 26 total pressures, so he may be ok.
I just am very nervous for someone who hasn't been a full-season starter at OG in 5 years.
And as much optimism as I may have in Fairchild's potential, there's a reason he wasn't projected as a 1st rounder and didn't go until 3rd round. He does have some growth/work to do.
So while I am not ready to say it's much of an upgrade over the previous guys, I am willing to say there's more optimism than before.
(05-29-2025, 08:42 PM)c766 Wrote: [ -> ]Auden Tate and Damion Willis say hi
Are any of you others hearing something odd in here, lately? It's kind of like a gnat, flying around your head with that subtle buzz of it's wings...
(05-28-2025, 04:27 PM)jj22 Wrote: [ -> ]NE (while not as slow of a start as we've seen with our Bengals), if they were to lose games would happen in week 1-5. After that the run started. It was like that every year....
Same with KC.
The slow starts are an issue, but the championship teams we've seen this generation .... the best bet to defeat them did come in September before they licked in.
I'd be curious to look back at the teams they play. We've just lost to some very bad teams (Cleveland, NE, No QB having Steelers) and that makes it all the worse.
I realize I'm a glass-half-full fan, and that doesn't often play well around here, but we could look at every Preseason since Zac has been here and easily identify a probable cause.
Year 1- Rookie season and turning over the roster of a team that hadn't had a winning record in 3 years
Year 2- New QB with no Training Camp due to Covid (Also, Zac's last losing season)
Year 3- Sophomore QB recovering from a ACL tear
Year 4- QB devastated by a ruptured Appendix committed 5 turnovers in an opening 3-point loss to PIT
Year 5- QB suffered a calf injury in which he never recovered from until about week 6
Year 6- Qb returning from a season-ending wrist injury, star WR disrupts the entire preseason with antics, and #2 WR out
Year 7- Looking good so far (4 the offense)
It is noteworthy no joint practices.
I thought those were better than preseason game snaps if for at least players get to practice against a new scheme. Was our defense really challenging our offense last preseason in practice? I can imagine they thought our run game would be top 10!
And you can protect the qb. So Burrow could get more snaps.
(05-29-2025, 08:04 PM)ochocincos Wrote: [ -> ]I'm probably more negative of Lucas Patrick than I should be, but the dude hasn't played significant snaps at RG since 2020.
Between his nearly 500 snaps at LG last year and >900 snaps at both OG spots in 2020 though (the only two years he played a good number of snaps at OG), he only allowed 3 sacks and 26 total pressures, so he may be ok.
I just am very nervous for someone who hasn't been a full-season starter at OG in 5 years.
And as much optimism as I may have in Fairchild's potential, there's a reason he wasn't projected as a 1st rounder and didn't go until 3rd round. He does have some growth/work to do.
So while I am not ready to say it's much of an upgrade over the previous guys, I am willing to say there's more optimism than before.
I getcha, but okay is better than terrible and I agree I wish they went and got a Risner/Scherff/Hernandez as well when the time comes to
really ensure the IOL being better. We will see if our optimism is founded in reality once the real games play. I like Patrick better than Volson
already and Fairchild to me is much more pro ready than Volson ever was and he gets lower and has longer arms than Ratledge.
I bet if we selected Ratledge everyone would be much happier, but we don't really know who will be the better pro. Staying too high and
having short arms have killed a lot of Lineman transitioning from college to the NFL.
(05-29-2025, 09:59 PM)bfine32 Wrote: [ -> ]I realize I'm a glass-half-full fan, and that doesn't often play well around here, but we could look at every Preseason since Zac has been here and easily identify a probable cause.
Year 1- Rookie season and turning over the roster of a team that hadn't had a winning record in 3 years
Year 2- New QB with no Training Camp due to Covid (Also, Zac's last losing season)
Year 3- Sophomore QB recovering from a ACL tear
Year 4- QB devastated by a ruptured Appendix committed 5 turnovers in an opening 3-point loss to PIT
Year 5- QB suffered a calf injury in which he never recovered from until about week 6
Year 6- Qb returning from a season-ending wrist injury, star WR disrupts the entire preseason with antics, and #2 WR out
Year 7- Looking good so far (4 the offense)
All great points. Hopefully this is the year we don't have near as many strange things happening.
(05-29-2025, 08:04 PM)ochocincos Wrote: [ -> ]I'm probably more negative of Lucas Patrick than I should be, but the dude hasn't played significant snaps at RG since 2020.
Between his nearly 500 snaps at LG last year and >900 snaps at both OG spots in 2020 though (the only two years he played a good number of snaps at OG), he only allowed 3 sacks and 26 total pressures, so he may be ok.
I just am very nervous for someone who hasn't been a full-season starter at OG in 5 years.
And as much optimism as I may have in Fairchild's potential, there's a reason he wasn't projected as a 1st rounder and didn't go until 3rd round. He does have some growth/work to do.
So while I am not ready to say it's much of an upgrade over the previous guys, I am willing to say there's more optimism than before.
Yeah, the 1st round was pretty much taken over by Defensive players (they even said prior to the draft that Offensive linemen would not go until the 2nd or 3rd.) and Fairchild played all of last year with a calf injury. He gave up one sack in 787 pass block reps. I think he's going to be fine.
(Yesterday, 09:48 AM)Sled21 Wrote: [ -> ]Yeah, the 1st round was pretty much taken over by Defensive players (they even said prior to the draft that Offensive linemen would not go until the 2nd or 3rd.) and Fairchild played all of last year with a calf injury. He gave up one sack in 787 pass block reps. I think he's going to be fine.
I think he will become a fine Guard, but he did only start two years in college, and I thought (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that he didn't play much football growing up.
I know he was a really damn good wrestler in high school though, and those skills obviously help.
All I'm saying is he may not be great right out of the gate and there might be some growing pains as he gets comfortable with the offense and just adapts to NFL players in general.
(Yesterday, 09:55 AM)ochocincos Wrote: [ -> ]I think he will become a fine Guard, but he did only start two years in college, and I thought (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that he didn't play much football growing up.
I know he was a really damn good wrestler in high school though, and those skills obviously help.
All I'm saying is he may not be great right out of the gate and there might be some growing pains as he gets comfortable with the offense and just adapts to NFL players in general.
If he was only a starter for two years at Georgia, it's likely because he had to wait his turn, not because he wasn't good enough. Georgia has been pumping out high quality OL for a good while now.
(Yesterday, 10:14 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: [ -> ]If he was only a starter for two years at Georgia, it's likely because he had to wait his turn, not because he wasn't good enough. Georgia has been pumping out high quality OL for a good while now.
I'm not saying he wasn't good, I'm saying he is somewhat inexperienced.
(Yesterday, 10:14 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: [ -> ]If he was only a starter for two years at Georgia, it's likely because he had to wait his turn, not because he wasn't good enough. Georgia has been pumping out high quality OL for a good while now.
I'm hoping that he's Clint Boling 2.0. Doesn't have to be a superstar. He just needs to be better than the guys out there last year. That requires little a baseline level of NFL competency.
Only difference here is that Boling was never meant to start in year one. He was slotted in after Wharton went down in he preseason.
Fairchild may or may not work out, but putting Burrow's health in the hands of a 3rd round rookie still seems pretty malpracticey. 9 is not built to take the number of hits he has over the course of his career. The longer they go with crap interior line play, the shorter his time to win a title in Cincinnati will get.
(Yesterday, 10:20 AM)samhain Wrote: [ -> ]I'm hoping that he's Clint Boling 2.0. Doesn't have to be a superstar. He just needs to be better than the guys out there last year. That requires little a baseline level of NFL competency.
Only difference here is that Boling was never meant to start in year one. He was slotted in after Wharton went down in he preseason.
Fairchild may or may not work out, but putting Burrow's health in the hands of a 3rd round rookie still seems pretty malpracticey. 9 is not built to take the number of hits he has over the course of his career. The longer they go with crap interior line play, the shorter his time to win a title in Cincinnati will get.
Few things (and I know the point/premise behind your post, so I promise I'm not trying to start a fight or anything lol):
1. He isn't Boling: Boling was a finesse guy, who could (and did) play multiple positions on the line. Fairchild is pretty much an OG and a power/strength guy at that.
2. Boling started in year 1 to supplant Bobbie Williams, who (IIRC) was suspended for the first 3 games that year. Not only was Boling raw, but he was also not strong-enough (which isn't a problem with Fairchild). One year in the weight program and he was up to speed.
3. When Wharton went down, that was Boling's 2nd year, where he was up to speed in the weight program and a further year into the team and cohesiveness. He also played next to Whitworth, which was much better than playing next to 'dre (wasn't a bad thing playing next to 'dre, but not as good as Whitworth).
Fairchild will be awesome, I'm telling you, the gut instinct is strong with this one lol
(Yesterday, 10:20 AM)samhain Wrote: [ -> ]I'm hoping that he's Clint Boling 2.0. Doesn't have to be a superstar. He just needs to be better than the guys out there last year. That requires little a baseline level of NFL competency.
Only difference here is that Boling was never meant to start in year one. He was slotted in after Wharton went down in he preseason.
Fairchild may or may not work out, but putting Burrow's health in the hands of a 3rd round rookie still seems pretty malpracticey. 9 is not built to take the number of hits he has over the course of his career. The longer they go with crap interior line play, the shorter his time to win a title in Cincinnati will get.
They're not handing him the starting job. He has to be out Cody Ford and several others, who I'm sure people will chime in about how horrible they are, but Ford played decent last year and is getting better.