Have we really had one since Rich Braham? Maybe a couple of them have been serviceable, but actually good? 15 years is a long time to go without hitting on one. Whether it be in the draft or FA. Has there been a single other position you could say the Bengals haven’t had an above average player at for that amount of time?

I really hope they don’t just sit on their hands this offseason and count on Hopkins to bounce back. Even at his best he was just average in pass protection, and has never been a good run blocker. And I can’t imagine Trey Hill is the plan for the future.

You would think it has to be one of the biggest needs going forward. And unfortunately there aren’t a lot of great FA centers available this year. I guess I’ll have to start paying close attention to some of the guys coming out in the draft (other than Linderbaum who I assume will be gone by the time we pick).

Kyle Cook was a good C. Not elite, but always graded in the mid teens and we had a good, balanced offense with him in there.

Trevor Robinson was really good for 6 or 7 games in 2012 and that's it. Faded away as well, so obviously was a fluke or something happened.

That's been it. We've always had good Cs, until Ghiaciuc. Then Cook brought some respectability back and it's been downhill since.

Billy wasn't too bad at the beginning of '18, despite being hurt still, but he obviously didn't progress.

(11-02-2021, 11:33 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Have we really had one since Rich Braham? Maybe a couple of them have been serviceable, but actually good? 15 years is a long time to go without hitting on one. Whether it be in the draft or FA. Has there been a single other position you could say the Bengals haven’t had an above average player at for that amount of time?

I really hope they don’t just sit on their hands this offseason and count on Hopkins to bounce back. Even at his best he was just average in pass protection, and has never been a good run blocker. And I can’t imagine Trey Hill is the plan for the future.

You would think it has to be one of the biggest needs going forward. And unfortunately there aren’t a lot of great FA centers available this year. I guess I’ll have to start paying close attention to some of the guys coming out in the draft (other than Linderbaum who I assume will be gone by the time we pick).

This is precisely why a few of us blew a gasket over not getting Alex Mack in 2015....or a center approaching that level of play. Pressure up the gut was our lone weakness on that line.

People talk about how much the Ogbuehi and Fisher picks set us back, but honestly, the Price pick isn’t far behind.

Other than Jonah, I just don’t know that I trust Tobin drafting OL. Even in the 1st round. And as much as I like and respect Pollack, he was here when we picked both Price and Carman (jury still out on that one).

Who was the shopping cart guy? Guicheck?

Well, they did draft Bodine, Price, and Hill to try and fill that role.

Drafting Tyler lindenbaum next year would stop that.

Our last really good Center was Kyle Cook, prior to him getting hurt. Then he was ok getting by on his smarts. Then it went downhill.

(11-02-2021, 12:03 PM)Wyche Wrote: This is precisely why a few of us blew a gasket over not getting Alex Mack in 2015....or a center approaching that level of play. Pressure up the gut was our lone weakness on that line.

I remember being very bummed when Mack went to Atlanta. Made it even worse went Atlanta immediately got the 1st scoring offense and went to the Super Bowl his 1st year there while the Bengals went from contenders to losers.

Heck, even this offseason Mack was available again and signed for under $5m/yr. He's ranked as the 12th C so far.

OK, I'll play center and improve the team.. So what I'm 62 and weight about 140 soaking wet with $500 worth of pennies in each pocket, but I have experience. I was the center on our peewee flag football team!

(11-02-2021, 02:37 PM)grampahol Wrote: OK, I'll play center and improve the team.. So what I'm 62 and weight about 140 soaking wet with $500 worth of pennies in each pocket, 

Just so you know, $500 worth of pennies would be 1000 rolls of pennies. A box of pennies $25 and only contains 50 rolls of pennies. So, you'd have the equivalent of 200 boxes of pennies in your pockets. There are no pockets in any article of clothing that could hold 200 boxes of pennies. 

Of course, if they're loose that means you would have 50,000 pennies in your pockets, which again, no pockets in the world would be able to contain that many.

This has been Phiduciary Phacts by Phil. Don't forget to hit that like and subscribe button and tune in next week when I tell you that dollar bills with literal human feces on them smell like shit.

(11-02-2021, 02:44 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Just so you know, $500 worth of pennies would be 1000 rolls of pennies. A box of pennies $25 and only contains 50 rolls of pennies. So, you'd have the equivalent of 200 boxes of pennies in your pockets. There are no pockets in any article of clothing that could hold 200 boxes of pennies. 

Of course, if they're loose that means you would have 50,000 pennies in your pockets, which again, no pockets in the world would be able to contain that many.

This has been Phiduciary Phacts by Phil. Don't forget to hit that like and subscribe button and tune in next week when I tell you that dollar bills with literal human feces on them smell like shit.

Well, OK then.. I hadn't done the math so...ya know...hyperbole n stuff?

It's not like we haven't tried:

Jonathan Luigs in the 4th

Russell Bodine in the 4th

Eric Ghiaciuc in the 4th

Billy Price in the 1st

Who was that big name former Notre Dame Center we brought in. Seems he was damaged goods at the time.

(11-02-2021, 02:37 PM)grampahol Wrote: OK, I'll play center and improve the team.. So what I'm 62 and weight about 140 soaking wet with $500 worth of pennies in each pocket, but I have experience. I was the center on our peewee flag football team!

Hey, we're the same except I have 100 lbs. on ya without the pennies!!!

I know he goes back further than Braham, but who remembers...

(11-02-2021, 02:56 PM)bfine32 Wrote: It's not like we haven't tried:

Jonathan Luigs in the 4th

Russell Bodine in the 4th

Eric Ghiaciuc in the 4th

Billy Price in the 1st

Who was that big name former Notre Dame Center we brought in. Seems he was damaged goods at the time.

Jeff Faine, one of the worst Cs for 3-4 years until we signed him; made no sense.

Luigs is still the big, "what if?" He won the Rimington, was a good-enough size and was athletic-enough that he played on KO coverage teams. His only extended time at C was against the Bears and he did fairly-well.

Then he hurts his knee in '10 and his career is over. It would've been nice to see if he could've held down the fort when Cook went down and then if he WAS good enough, perhaps we wouldn't have had a revolving door?

Ifs and buts...

(11-02-2021, 02:44 PM)PhilHos Wrote: Just so you know, $500 worth of pennies would be 1000 rolls of pennies. A box of pennies $25 and only contains 50 rolls of pennies. So, you'd have the equivalent of 200 boxes of pennies in your pockets. There are no pockets in any article of clothing that could hold 200 boxes of pennies. 

Of course, if they're loose that means you would have 50,000 pennies in your pockets, which again, no pockets in the world would be able to contain that many.

This has been Phiduciary Phacts by Phil. Don't forget to hit that like and subscribe button and tune in next week when I tell you that dollar bills with literal human feces on them smell like shit.

Not so fast.

He could have a rare 1947 S/S Lincoln Wheat penny which is worth a few hundred dollars by its self.

How sad is it we have to use Rich Braham as our standard of excellence at Center/ I don't think dude made any "award team" in his career

(11-02-2021, 12:11 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: People talk about how much the Ogbuehi and Fisher picks set us back, but honestly, the Price pick isn’t far behind.

Other than Jonah, I just don’t know that I trust Tobin drafting OL. Even in the 1st round. And as much as I like and respect Pollack, he was here when we picked both Price and Carman (jury still out on that one).

Honestly I don't think Jonah even makes it to us if the Giants and Raiders don't both reach. Williams was a no brainer at that point.

(11-02-2021, 04:57 PM)bfine32 Wrote: How sad is it we have to use Rich Braham as our standard of excellence at Center/ I don't think dude made any "award team" in his career

yeah but that OL while he was here was outstanding....


Cook was probly the next best after him..

Might not even been their personal athleticism or anything but they had the line ready and made adjustments well