With the Ravens getting back to full strength and the draft capital that they currently have I wonder what this matchup will look like. This is going to be one hell of a fight in the AFCN next season. The Steelers are what we know and will reload and the Browns already had a championship infrastructure outside of the sperm whale addition. I know we went to the Superbowl last season but how is this division won with our current roster and whats needed truly. I think we still have some questions to be answered with positional DEPTH really on all levels on both sides. Imo. Thoughts

* The Ravens were so sinister in how they just casually moved through opening night and grabbed two top 10 talents like they just did!! Damn.
Hamilton & Its LinderBum Now

You're not going to have a roster with a star at every position. You need some health and luck along the way. I'd say we have 1 Guard spot that I view as a question-mark.

Honestly, with the Ravens...I think they're in a situation similar to the Browns. Their QB holds them back. You need a QB that can throw to win. The Browns cut bait on Mayfield...we'll see what the Ravens do.

As far as draft capital and worrying about teams with that...a team is luck to get 1 or 2 starters Year 1 in any draft. The impact they'll get from that is small...unless you pick Top 5 and get a Burrow or Chase.

The Steelers? They need a QB. Their roster is bad. Weakest in the division.

The Browns? What did Watson ever win with the Texans? And who knows how many games he'll play. Also they lost some lineman too.

(04-15-2022, 03:09 PM)Emeritus Wrote:

With the Ravens getting back to full strength and the draft capital that they currently have I wonder what this matchup will look like. This is going to be one hell of a fight in the AFCN next season. The Steelers are what we know and will reload and the Browns already had a championship infrastructure outside of the sperm whale addition. I know we went to the Superbowl last season but how is this division won with our current roster and whats needed truly. I think we still have some questions to be answered with positional DEPTH really on all levels on both sides. Imo. Thoughts

So goes Joe Burrow and so goes Lamar Jackson. Lamar has been neutralized the last few years as teams are keeping him pinned more. . If the Ravens can’t run the ball with their backs they struggle. The Ravens/Lamar struggle on third and long. Joe Burrow/Bengals have struggled in pass pro and being able to run the ball when they have to. This OL and especially if they add Linderbaum, Zion Johnson, or Kenyon Green could be like the turnaround of the the 2021 defense from 2020. This OL could make Joe Mixon make the NFL say Derrick who? Jonathan Taylor who? A dynamic run game like I envision will help in pass pro, help on third down, and help in the Redzone.

So I think the draft will determine a lot but I see us with a tough battle with the Ravens but edging them out. The Steelers aren’t valid or the Browns as Watson is going to miss a lot of games.

It is tough to repeat as division champs. The Bengals certainly have the potential to win it. I see the Ravens and Browns being hard to beat this year. I think the team with the least injuries will win the division. I think protecting Joe Burrow is key.

I don't know if folks know how good this team really is. The core pieces to this team are young and ascending with a generational talent at QB.

If they stay relatively healthy they will dominate. The sky's the limit.

(04-15-2022, 03:16 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: You're not going to have a roster with a star at every position. You need some health and luck along the way. I'd say we have 1 Guard spot that I view as a question-mark.

Honestly, with the Ravens...I think they're in a situation similar to the Browns. Their QB holds them back. You need a QB that can throw to win. The Browns cut bait on Mayfield...we'll see what the Ravens do.

As far as draft capital and worrying about teams with that...a team is luck to get 1 or 2 starters Year 1 in any draft. The impact they'll get from that is small...unless you pick Top 5 and get a Burrow or Chase.

The Steelers? They need a QB. Their roster is bad. Weakest in the division.

The Browns? What did Watson ever win with the Texans? And who knows how many games he'll play. Also they lost some lineman too.

-Lamar Jackson being a runner and not a passer!
He'll sign the biggest deal in football soon!  Im moving on.

I take the Ravens seriously. They will be back to form with better health and have every tiny motivation to stick it to the Bengals.

I don't take the Browns or the Steelers seriously. The Browns overall roster is thoroughly overrated in my view -- it was never a Super Bowl caliber roster in the first place, and I don't think Non-consensual Happy Ending changes that. He has a crap receiving corps at this point, and the run-first methodology isn't super sustainable in this era. The Steelers have a bad roster in general, and Mitchell Trubisky is Mitchell Trubisky.

I think the division is gonna be tough and I'd say all the other teams have improved and still have the draft to continue to do so. I think for us to put ourselves in the best position we need to add another piece to the online and then address our losses on the dline and the secondary in the draft. I would also really like to see us add a LB so if they did all of that in the 1st 4 rds I would be happy. I know a lot of people seem to want a TE but that doesn't really help us this year and if we took one early it just hurts those other positions.

(04-15-2022, 03:16 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: You're not going to have a roster with a star at every position. You need some health and luck along the way. I'd say we have 1 Guard spot that I view as a question-mark.

Honestly, with the Ravens...I think they're in a situation similar to the Browns. Their QB holds them back. You need a QB that can throw to win. The Browns cut bait on Mayfield...we'll see what the Ravens do.

As far as draft capital and worrying about teams with that...a team is luck to get 1 or 2 starters Year 1 in any draft. The impact they'll get from that is small...unless you pick Top 5 and get a Burrow or Chase.

The Steelers? They need a QB. Their roster is bad. Weakest in the division.

The Browns? What did Watson ever win with the Texans? And who knows how many games he'll play. Also they lost some lineman too.

Me likey this

We're currently projected with the third-best odds to win the division, which is stupid to me considering we were one block away from wining the Super Bowl with a dog shit offensive line that we've now improved.

(04-15-2022, 03:09 PM)Emeritus Wrote:

With the Ravens getting back to full strength and the draft capital that they currently have I wonder what this matchup will look like. This is going to be one hell of a fight in the AFCN next season. The Steelers are what we know and will reload and the Browns already had a championship infrastructure outside of the sperm whale addition. I know we went to the Superbowl last season but how is this division won with our current roster and whats needed truly. I think we still have some questions to be answered with positional DEPTH really on all levels on both sides. Imo. Thoughts

Browns - Yes, they upgraded QB, but they've lost about all their pass catchers other than Njoku. They also lost Tretter at C. They should be right there with PIT as 3rd and 4th in the division.

Steelers - They look worse on paper than they did last year. They'll probably find a way to get 7-9 wins though.

Ravens - They still have their running game, and they added Morgan Moses and Marcus Williams, but they lost Bozeman and Watkins. Their WRs aren't great. Bateman only put up 515 yards last year in 12 games. Their top WR (Brown) barely reached 1000 yards. Stop their running game and put Flowers on Andrews to limit their damage.

Bengals should still be the favorites for the division. About the only loss they really had was Ogunjobi (which they could bring back still), and 3 of their OL spots are upgraded.

You're right that depth sucks, but the other teams have crappy depth too. They just also lack starters at some positions.

(04-15-2022, 03:16 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: The Browns? What did Watson ever win with the Texans? And who knows how many games he'll play. Also they lost some lineman too.

Also no more OBJ, Landry, Hooper, or Higgins.
About all they got is Njoku.

Who is Watson going to throw to? A bunch of rookies?

(04-15-2022, 03:16 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: You're not going to have a roster with a star at every position. You need some health and luck along the way. I'd say we have 1 Guard spot that I view as a question-mark.

Honestly, with the Ravens...I think they're in a situation similar to the Browns. Their QB holds them back. You need a QB that can throw to win. The Browns cut bait on Mayfield...we'll see what the Ravens do.

As far as draft capital and worrying about teams with that...a team is luck to get 1 or 2 starters Year 1 in any draft. The impact they'll get from that is small...unless you pick Top 5 and get a Burrow or Chase.

The Steelers? They need a QB. Their roster is bad. Weakest in the division.

The Browns? What did Watson ever win with the Texans? And who knows how many games he'll play. Also they lost some lineman too.

Yes, we are the best of the bunch no question as we finally figured out how to play Lamar. We just need to keep that up and if 
Watson plays we need to play him similar to Lamar and slow down Nick Chubb who is the one player in this Division I wish wasn't
here. Dude is a stud RB no question about it with a very good OL in front of him, but as you say they lost some of those guys.

If the Ravens can stay healthy they will still be tough though as always, they were hit with injuries badly last season.

The Steelers like always I have a hard time counting out but it is hard to ignore their gaping holes just the same.

Which positional group on the Bengals has gotten worse this offseason?

(04-15-2022, 04:30 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: Which positional group on the Bengals has gotten worse this offseason?

There isn't one, maybe DT with the loss of Ogunjobi but as Ocho said we could still bring him back or draft a DT as good.

(04-15-2022, 04:23 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Also no more OBJ, Landry, Hooper, or Higgins.
About all they got is Njoku.

Who is Watson going to throw to? A bunch of rookies?

Amari Cooper but I'm not really high on him dude is perpetually banged up. I'm sure they'll be drafting a WR early I would think.

(04-15-2022, 04:35 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: There isn't one, maybe DT with the loss of Ogunjobi but as Ocho said we could still bring him back or draft a DT as good.

I'd say CB as well. I know we have our starters but the loss of Wayne's and I want to say Phillips ( the punt muffer) They were depth and it hurts that group losing them. 

You all need to take a breath and stop talking down the competition so much. 

Doesn't matter that Watson hasn't played in a year. Off season, preseason and the first 4 games...he'll get it figured out. He's a great QB. 

Just because the Bengals played Lamar well one time doesn't mean they've figured him out and will shut him down from now on. 

The Steelers always manage to hang around .500 at worst and Trubiski will probably be very 'Tannehill' with a better organization around him.

Not to mention the conference with the talent that's been added this year. 

(04-15-2022, 05:24 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: You all need to take a breath and stop talking down the competition so much. 

Doesn't matter that Watson hasn't played in a year. Off season, preseason and the first 4 games...he'll get it figured out. He's a great QB. 

Just because the Bengals played Lamar well one time doesn't mean they've figured him out and will shut him down from now on. 

The Steelers always manage to hang around .500 at worst and Trubiski will probably be very 'Tannehill' with a better organization around him.

Not to mention the conference with the talent that's been added this year. 

Oh it’ll be tough. The Ravens were emancipated with injuries this past year. Jackson is a former MVP. But PFF thinks we did much better in FA. The Ravens lost Villanueva and Bozeman. They got Moses but he’s played little at LT. If they draft Linderbaum fine but he’s not worth that early of a spot. The draft may dictate which team emerges better.

But I’m a believer in the trenches. Our DL is in tact. Nobody could run on us late in the year. Hill is better all around though marginally than Ogunjobi. Ossai is going to help immensely. Then there’s an OL. If Carman gets with it or we get Zion Johnson look out. This offense with a top 5 OL? Yes top 5. Oh it will be murder.

But as the Ravens know injuries are huge.

Ravens will be the competition but to be honest I'm not super scared.

Steelers will probably eek out 8/9 wins and kinda stay in the hunt, they somehow always do. But I'm even less scared of them.

Browns ? How many games will Watson play ? How quick will the team gel with Watson if he does play ? Like Steelers they're probably 8/9 win team at best.