(10-28-2021, 07:49 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Hey, fellas.  I haven't been on here much of late (got a new job and usually don't post much in season) but I just wanted to pop in and give some serious props to the team.  I was thinking about this other day but I don't think things could be going much better, not only from a team perspective but down to a lot of individual players.

If you had told me Joe Burrow would look this good coming off the injury I would have said this is about as good as you could reasonably expect in year. 2  I don't think he could be playing much better.  Not only is he healthy and had shown to not have any mental issues from the injury, he's shown significant improvement.  His completion percentage is up, his YPA has gone way up, and his deep ball has greatly improved.

If you told me Chase was going to be doing this well... this is obviously a best case scenario.  He's an absolute stud and has already cemented himself as a mighty fine pick only two months in.

Lou Anarumo's defense?  I don't think it could much better than what we're seeing vs. what many predicted.

Hendrickson, Reader, Bell, Wilson, ect.  All of these guys are living up to the contracts or draft position.

CJ Uzomah?  Are you kidding me?  This is more than just a career year.  He's been a top 1/3 of the league Tight End.

Joe Mixon is on pace for a career high in yards and TD's.  Not only that, but he has his best YPC in the last 3 years.  He's been solid.

The offensive line, all things considered I don't think you could ask for much more.  This is about best case scenario for this group.  Jonah has stayed healthy (fingers crossed), Carmen has looked pretty decent, Reif has been solid, and all in all they're a lot better than we've seen these last few years.

Even Zac Taylor, who I'm still not 100% sold on and I still shake my head at his play calling at times, deserves a lot of praise.  He's got the 12th ranked offense, which is a HUGE improvement and has his team at 5-2.  It's hard to argue against that.

Anyways, I don't want to bore anyone too much here; I just wanted to give the team (players and coaches) some credit.  It's been a really fun start to the season.  It finally feels like a new era.

Good to hear from you.

It has been such a fun year, especially after the Ravens game as the needle is still pointing up and they seem to just now be finding their stride on offense.  Defense has been rock solid all year.  That is how they are 5-2.

Here's to 7-2 at the bye!!!

Auden Tate could conceivably suddenly turn into the stud receiver some folks here thought he was gonna be a few years ago.. That would be much better..

(10-29-2021, 03:49 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: It is a new era, this Defense is badazz. Great at stopping the run and just throwing Defenses off. The moment an Offense thinks
they are starting to roll our D steps up and ***** slaps'em. Love this Defense, pay Ogunjobi please, I want this guy here for many
moons. On Offense we should only get better as the year rolls, we are young and the new players and coaches are still finding 
their stride. Quinton Spain? Yeah, pay this man too.

I couldnt agree more on retaining Larry O long term...this guy has brought a new presence in the middle that we need to keep in place along with Reader and the rest. Getting BJ Hill back would be nice as well. I predict Topou leaves as a FA and then we bring in Shelvin.  

(10-28-2021, 07:49 PM)LSUfaninTN Wrote: As an LSU fan, we had a bad offensive line that was made better by Joe Burrow evading everyone. That still needs work.

(10-28-2021, 09:41 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Some of us caught a bunch of flak for suggesting that 2019 LSU OL was average at best. One specific poster kept bringing up the Joe Moore award, but I thought where those guys were drafted was more telling (none before the 3rd round iirc). Burrow definitely made them look better. And so did having 2 world class WR’s that could get open quickly.

I know some of you like to give Burrow credit for everything, but the fact is that the experts disagree with you.

The Joe Moore Award is not a popularity contest decided by fans.  It is voted on by current college O-line coaches and former players and coaches.  They decided that LSU had the best O-line in the country.

NFL scouts also agree. LSU had the 2nd OG drafted (started 16 games as a rookie), the 3rd OC drafted (also started 16 games as a rookie), and the 12th OT drafted.  Overall they had 3 of the first 18 O-linemen drafted.  More than any other team in the country.

It is absurd to call a unit like that "bad" or "average at best". 

Not belittling the Bengals accomplishments in any way.  But it has been very fortuitous that both the Ravens and Brown have been decimated by injuries.

(10-30-2021, 12:00 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I know some of you like to give Burrow credit for everything, but the fact is that the experts disagree with you.

The Joe Moore Award is not a popularity contest decided by fans.  It is voted on by current college O-line coaches and former players and coaches.  They decided that LSU had the best O-line in the country.

NFL scouts also agree. LSU had the 2nd OG drafted (started 16 games as a rookie), the 3rd OC drafted (also started 16 games as a rookie), and the 12th OT drafted.  Overall they had 3 of the first 18 O-linemen drafted.  More than any other team in the country.

It is absurd to call a unit like that "bad" or "average at best". 

Coaches busy getting ready for Bowl games when those votes are taking place.

In 2019 College Football's best Offensive line was Alabama. Alex Leatherwood (1st round) - Evan Neal (soon to be top 10 freshman all-american) - Landon Dickerson (2nd round top 40) - Deonte Brown (6th round) - Jedrick Wills (1st round 10th Overall).

(10-30-2021, 12:18 PM)Synric Wrote: Coaches busy getting ready for Bowl games when those votes are taking place.

And somehow that makes them forget everything they saw on film all year?

(10-30-2021, 12:18 PM)Synric Wrote: In 2019 College Football's best Offensive line was Alabama. Alex Leatherwood (1st round) - Evan Neal (soon to be top 10 freshman all-american) - Landon Dickerson (2nd round top 40) - Deonte Brown (6th round) - Jedrick Wills (1st round 10th Overall).

I don't mind a debate about who was #1.  But where are the facts to back up the claim that the LSU line was "bad" or "average at best"?

(10-30-2021, 12:26 PM)fredtoast Wrote: And somehow that makes them forget everything they saw on film all year?



I don't mind a debate about who was #1.  But where are the facts to back up the claim that the LSU line was "bad" or "average at best"?

Not every coach has watched film of every team. The SEC coaches yes but the pac big 10 big 12 the group of 5 schools?

Alabama hands down number #1 and it wasnt even close.

LSU was giving up sacks every 16 pass attempts by the SEC Championship game they had already given up 27 sacks. Alabama was 3rd in the league with sacks allowed at 12 on the year. Georgia even had a better line than LSU.

(10-30-2021, 12:03 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Not belittling the Bengals accomplishments in any way.  But it has been very fortuitous that both the Ravens and Brown have been decimated by injuries.

They have been but the Bengals were decimated by injuries last year.

Bengals were bringing in people off the streets who were playing that week.

ZT and Lou Anarumo were roasted on this site even though they had tons of injuries.

This is a zero excuse league. 

Hopefully ZT, Lou and Tobin will have another successful off season and complete this roster with quality depth.

From here on the only thing that matters is results.

(10-30-2021, 12:39 PM)SuperBowlBound! Wrote: They have been but the Bengals were decimated by injuries last year.

Bengals were bringing in people off the streets who were playing that week.

ZT and Lou Anarumo were roasted on this site even though they had tons of injuries.

This is a zero excuse league. 

Hopefully ZT, Lou and Tobin will have another successful off season and complete this roster with quality depth.

From here on the only thing that matters is results.

Injuries or not - Bengals are better.  Jury is still out on the Browns we will see next week.

(10-30-2021, 12:00 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I know some of you like to give Burrow credit for everything, but the fact is that the experts disagree with you.

The Joe Moore Award is not a popularity contest decided by fans.  It is voted on by current college O-line coaches and former players and coaches.  They decided that LSU had the best O-line in the country.

NFL scouts also agree. LSU had the 2nd OG drafted (started 16 games as a rookie), the 3rd OC drafted (also started 16 games as a rookie), and the 12th OT drafted.  Overall they had 3 of the first 18 O-linemen drafted.  More than any other team in the country.

It is absurd to call a unit like that "bad" or "average at best". 

The Twelfth OT drafted you say?! Sounds like a regular Iowa or Notre Dame.

(10-30-2021, 01:20 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: The Twelfth OT drafted you say?! Sounds like a regular Iowa or Notre Dame.

I don't think you get the point that he was the THIRD LSU lineman drafted.

He was the 2nd pick of the 4th round and the 18th overall O-lineman drafted.  No other team in the country had that many O-linemen drafted that high.

(10-28-2021, 08:17 PM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: McPherson could be perfect on the year, what a bum!

Benedict!  The boys name is Legs Benedict man.

(10-30-2021, 01:35 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I don't think you get the point that he was the THIRD LSU lineman drafted.

He was the 2nd pick of the 4th round and the 18th overall O-lineman drafted.  No other team in the country had that many O-linemen drafted that high.

ZERO taken before the 3rd round. Period. That’s the definition of average.

(10-30-2021, 01:51 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: ZERO taken before the 3rd round. Period. That’s the definition of average.

The 12th best OT in the nation is "average"?

That is the definition of "ridiculous".

(10-30-2021, 12:26 PM)fredtoast Wrote: And somehow that makes them forget everything they saw on film all year?



I don't mind a debate about who was #1.  But where are the facts to back up the claim that the LSU line was "bad" or "average at best"?

Burrow was sacked 34 times in 2019 and pressured on 31% of his drop backs.

While they weren't bad, they certainly weren't great either. 

(10-30-2021, 01:59 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: Burrow was sacked 34 times in 2019 and pressured on 31% of his drop backs.

While they weren't bad, they certainly weren't great either. 

1.  He held onto the ball too long trying to make plays.  We all saw that here last year.

2.  LSU ran a lot of 5 wide.  Lots of the pressures were the result of the O-line just being outnumbered in blitz situations.

(10-30-2021, 01:53 PM)fredtoast Wrote: The 12th best OT in the nation is "average"?

That is the definition of "ridiculous".

They were absolutely just an average OL (why is that such a big deal?). They had no standouts like you see from the Alabama’s, Iowa’s, Notre Dame’s of the world. If they were as good as you’re claiming they would have had at least one player drafted before the 3rd round (69th pick).

I will say, it is completely on brand for you to argue with that LSU fan (who I assume followed the teams much more closely than you did). It’s kind of like when you argue here based solely on stats about Bengals games you (admittedly) didn’t even watch. Anyone with eyeballs that even remotely followed LSU that year could see Burrow running around like crazy, and creating a ton of their plays off-schedule.

Anyway, I’m done with your nonsense. Only you would go around looking for shit to argue about when the team is in 1st place and everything is going this well.

(10-30-2021, 02:10 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: They were absolutely just an average OL (why is that such a big deal?). They had no standouts like you see from the Alabama’s, Iowa’s, Notre Dame’s of the world. If they were as good as you’re claiming they would have had at least one player drafted before the 3rd round (69th pick).

They had the second OG drafted and the 3rd OC.  How the hell are players top three in the nation at their postions "just average"?

You seem to think we are comparing the '19 LSU offensive line to NFL offensive lines.  We aren't.  We are comparing them to the other college O-lines.

(10-30-2021, 02:10 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Anyone with eyeballs that even remotely followed LSU that year could see Burrow running around like crazy, and creating a ton of their plays off-schedule.

As an SEC fan I probably watched Burrow play more games than anyone here.   Especially 2018.  Anyone with eyeballs who watched the '19 LSU team saw Burrow holding the ball forever running around trying to make plays.  They also saw him get a lot of pressure when other teams blitzed against a 5-wide set (which LSU ran a lot). 

(10-30-2021, 02:10 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Anyway, I’m done with your nonsense. Only you would go around looking for shit to argue about when the team is in 1st place and everything is going this well.

Funny you should mention that.

As in my political debates I often find myself arguing against extremists.   The only reason this issue is coming up again is because the crowd who tried to argue that Burrow did not need a decent O-line because he could evade any pressure had been to embarrassed to bring it up until things started going so well.

It is not me being more grumpy.  It is the extremists who are coming back out of their shell.