I live in Jacksonville, Andrew Norwell is not thought too highly of here. I think he is pretty far past his prime.

(02-15-2022, 07:32 PM)casear2727 Wrote: I've seen him drop in a couple as well, but as high as 8 which is bit too much.

He'd be a steal for sure. But if we were set on replacing Hopkins it would probably happen in FA, too risky to wait on the draft. If we dont move from Hopkins and Linderbaum is available snatch him up.

We never replace someone like Hopkins like we should. 1 more year of 35th out of 39 play and no value when he walks the next season.  We could apply his $6m to Bozeman.

Ryan Jensen at C

The Cincinnati Bengals feature an elite quarterback, elite wide receivers, and a running back who is elite a few weeks a year.

Why are some of you willing to settle for a less than elite offensive line? That’s nonsensical.

In free agency I highly suggest the Bengals open the wallet on offense as they did last year on defense. Bring in the top free agent right guard and right tackle at minimum…

…and sign Rob Gronkowski. He’s a great blocker when he’s not catching passes.

(02-15-2022, 07:32 PM)casear2727 Wrote: I've seen him drop in a couple as well, but as high as 8 which is bit too much.

He'd be a steal for sure. But if we were set on replacing Hopkins it would probably happen in FA, too risky to wait on the draft. If we dont move from Hopkins and Linderbaum is available snatch him up.

We never replace someone like Hopkins like we should. 1 more year of 35th out of 39 play and no value when he walks the next season.  We could apply his $6m to Bozeman.

Hopkins was PFF's 10th best pass-blocking center since Week 11 (inc. playoffs).
That 35th ranking is heavily skewed by his first half of the season.

Now whether you believe the second half of the season is more indicative of how he'll perform in 2022 or not, that's up to you.
I believe he was worse this year because he was still recovering from injury and that the second half of the season was more indicative of how he'll be for 2022.

You also are far more into Bozeman than I am. I don't think Bozeman succeeds in Bengals wide zone scheme.

Terron Armstead, Orlando Brown, Morgan Moses, Ryan Jensen, Brandon Scherff, James Daniels.

Need two dudes from a group of players in this caliber.

(02-15-2022, 07:40 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: The Cincinnati Bengals feature an elite quarterback, elite wide receivers, and a running back who is elite a few weeks a year.

Why are some of you willing to settle for a less than elite offensive line?  That’s nonsensical.

In free agency I highly suggest the Bengals open the wallet on offense as they did last year on defense.  Bring in the top free agent right guard and right tackle at minimum…

…and sign Rob Gronkowski.  He’s a great blocker when he’s not catching passes.

I think that answer lies in the cost it will be to actually make an elite OL, and knowing that to accomplish that could require allowing some decline in the defense since there's only so much cap space.

We all WANT an elite OL, but we're trying to be realistic in what the Bengals could do without sacrificing too much on defense, as well as knowing they haven't gone that big on offense in FA during Taylor's tenure. Biggest FA signing on offense was Reiff, which was just $7.5 mill.

We need to hire someone who can properly evaluate Oline, we have botched so many draft picks on them. The Jackson Carman pick probably cost us the Super Bowl.

I'm not settling. The "minimum" is maximum effort.

If they don't bring in 2 high quality free agent linemen and spend the #31 pick on o-line as well, that's a failure.

Tbh, I'd look into overhauling the whole thing. Even Jonah is as average as it gets.

(02-15-2022, 07:37 PM)Interceptor Wrote: Ryan Jensen at C

Id like a younger guy to grow with Joe that could captain the oline for a long time. We havent had a strong leader on oline since... Braham?  Jeff Saturday type relationship.

C G T We haven’t recovered since letting Big Whitt and Zeitler walk. Joe B is too good. Have to make it right quickly before any windows close.

Plus draft a couple more.

(02-15-2022, 07:29 PM)ochocincos Wrote: 100% this.
Bring in Andrew Norwell in place of Spain to cover LG and that's one damn good pass blocking OL.

Not quite sure what everyone is seeing in Norwell. His PFF hasn't been above 70 since 2017. And it's dropped every year since 2015.This past year he was a 67 and Spain was a 72. If we're going to spend good money on a OG I would go after Connor Williams he is just 24 and getting better every year.

(02-15-2022, 07:45 PM)AtomicBlaze Wrote: We need to hire someone who can properly evaluate Oline, we have botched so many draft picks on them.   The Jackson Carman pick probably cost us the Super Bowl.

The pick itself may not have, but definitely the choice to play Adeniji over Carman could have.
I was looking back at the prospects available when Carman was selected, and I don't know if there was necessarily a better RG option to take.
I liked Cosmi, but for OT. I like Humphrey, but for C.
Maybe it would have made sense to put Humphrey at C and move Hopkins back to RG though.
Pollack had Hopkins at RG the last time he was the OL coach in 2018.

(02-15-2022, 07:51 PM)casear2727 Wrote: Id like a younger guy to grow with Joe that could captain the oline for a long time. We havent had a strong leader on oline since... Braham?  Jeff Saturday type relationship.

We need veterans who are already up to Burrow's speed. Why take the risk and wait for a draft pick to develop at this stage? Burrow is going to get hurt because someone up front doesn't know what to do. And while we have those veterans for two, three, four years, the drafts and backups can learn properly from the veterans and will have their chance to be on the field with Burrow when they are up to speed.

(02-15-2022, 07:58 PM)ochocincos Wrote: The pick itself may not have, but definitely the choice to play Adeniji over Carman could have.
I was looking back at the prospects available when Carman was selected, and I don't know if there was necessarily a better RG option to take.
I liked Cosmi, but for OT. I like Humphrey, but for C.
Maybe it would have made sense to put Humphrey at C and move Hopkins back to RG though.
Pollack had Hopkins at RG the last time he was the OL coach in 2018.

They had no choice Carman couldn't play because of his bad back.

(02-15-2022, 07:58 PM)pulses Wrote: Not quite sure what everyone is seeing in Norwell. His PFF hasn't been above 70 since 2017. And it's dropped every year since 2015.This past year he was a 67 and Spain was a 72. If we're going to spend good money on a OG I would go after Connor Williams he is just 24 and getting better every year.

I mentioned Norwell specifically for his pass blocking.

Andrew Norwell pass blocking grade - 73.5 in 2021, 80.3 in 2020, 74.2 in 2019.
Quinton Spain pass blocking grade - 58.9 in 2021, 44.8 in 2020, 70.4 in 2019 (TEN)

Norwell isn't as good of a run blocker as Spain, but if we're looking for better protection for Burrow, Norwell 100% is better than Spain.

(02-15-2022, 08:05 PM)AtomicBlaze Wrote: They had no choice Carman couldn't play because of his bad back.

Oh is that what happened? I remember Taylor mentioning Carman was going to start earlier in the week, but then Adeniji ended up starting. I hadn't heard he was unable to play due to injury.

(02-15-2022, 08:05 PM)Interceptor Wrote: We need veterans who are already up to Burrow's speed. Why take the risk and wait for a draft pick to develop at this stage? Burrow is going to get hurt because someone up front doesn't know what to do. And while we have those veterans for two, three, four years, the drafts and backups can learn properly from the veterans and will have their chance to be on the field with Burrow when they are up to speed.

What? Bozeman is a vet and only 27, he’s my guy at Center.

(02-15-2022, 08:09 PM)casear2727 Wrote: What?  Bozeman is a vet and only 27, he’s my guy at Center.

I thought you were talking about draft picks to start on the line.

(02-15-2022, 08:13 PM)Interceptor Wrote: I thought you were talking about draft picks to start on the line.

Lol, we are so terrible at drafting Oline….

(02-15-2022, 08:05 PM)Interceptor Wrote: We need veterans who are already up to Burrow's speed. Why take the risk and wait for a draft pick to develop at this stage? Burrow is going to get hurt because someone up front doesn't know what to do. And while we have those veterans for two, three, four years, the drafts and backups can learn properly from the veterans and will have their chance to be on the field with Burrow when they are up to speed.

Preach! +1.

“...already up to Burrow’s speed.” Amen.