(05-15-2016, 09:50 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I suppose it depends on what you look at.  Wheaton has shown steady improvement each year and he's in a familiar system while Lafell is trying to recover from a terrible season, was a FA, and is headed to a new team and system. 

Also, to check your numbers:

Lafell has 3,853 yards and 20 TDs in 6 seasons which is an average of 642 yards and 3.33 TDs.  Better than Wheaton, but there is an upward trend in Wheaton's performances and Lafell is trying to dig himself out of a hole.  Not saying he can't do it, but I'm not so sure I can objectively give him the nod yet.

Hell, we are going to spend the entire offseason talking about how Core, Alford, and Wright are going to knock Lafell out on his arse!

Whoops I divided by 5 and not 6 for LaFell.

But LaFell has been on an upward trend also. Last year was his first year that he had a setback, and that was due to injury. Other than last year he's improved in TDs every year, and the same with yards except last year (and 2013 when he went to the 3rd receiver on the panthers team, but he didn't drop off very much). Yes, Wheaton is younger, but he's no where near the red zone target as LaFell. I would take LaFell over Wheaton personally.

(05-15-2016, 09:50 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I suppose it depends on what you look at.  Wheaton has shown steady improvement each year and he's in a familiar system while Lafell is trying to recover from a terrible season, was a FA, and is headed to a new team and system. 

Also, to check your numbers:

Lafell has 3,853 yards and 20 TDs in 6 seasons which is an average of 642 yards and 3.33 TDs.  Better than Wheaton, but there is an upward trend in Wheaton's performances and Lafell is trying to dig himself out of a hole.  Not saying he can't do it, but I'm not so sure I can objectively give him the nod yet.

Hell, we are going to spend the entire offseason talking about how Core, Alford, and Wright are going to knock Lafell out on his arse!

Wheaton is not on a upward path if you look at last year stats... he is on a up and down path... He had 13 games of 3 catches or less and 3 game of 4 catches or more.  He had 15 catches in two games compared to 2 or less catches in 9 games.

(05-15-2016, 09:50 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Lets have some fun here.. Lets go 4 wide for both teams.

Left side:  Green/ Boyd v  Brown /Coates

Right side:  Eiffert/Lafell v.  Wheaton/ ?  James or Bey... 

Who looks stronger... BENGALS

But are you considering Eifert as a WR?  None of the people that rate positions are going to do that.  So, now you're looking at LaFell/Core or Alford or Tate or Wright.

(05-15-2016, 09:56 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: But are you considering Eifert as a WR?  None of the people that rate positions are going to do that.  So, now you're looking at LaFell/Core or Alford or Tate or Wright.

No, what I am doing is responding to overall offense and receiving and yes many people do rate TE with WRs now.. TE position has changed.. when NE is talked about and receiving Gronk is mentioned, just as when NO was viewed Graham was looked at as a receiver.

Just as we have moved to looking at RB depth more than 1 main RB, we also have moved to looking at TEs more as WRs.

In the end I am comparing team offense and I have not problem looking the  Bengals core WR/TE and putting them just above Steelers WR/TE, do you give the Bengals the edge with both compared ?

(05-15-2016, 09:54 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: Whoops I divided by 5 and not 6 for LaFell.

But LaFell has been on an upward trend also. Last year was his first year that he had a setback, and that was due to injury. Other than last year he's improved in TDs every year, and the same with yards except last year (and 2013 when he went to the 3rd receiver on the panthers team, but he didn't drop off very much). Yes, Wheaton is younger, but he's no where near the red zone target as LaFell. I would take LaFell over Wheaton personally.

Meh, you make decent points.  I still maintain that Lafell has more to prove since he's coming off a down year, was let go via free agency and he's headed for a new system.  Too many variables for me to be 100% confident he's going to bounce back to levels he posted as a starter with Tom Brady throwing him the ball.

Lafell has to bounce back and Wheaton has to just hold serve, as I see it.  Meh, tennis metaphor on a football message board.  Forgive me.

(05-15-2016, 10:00 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Meh, you make decent points.  I still maintain that Lafell has more to prove since he's coming off a down year, was let go via free agency and he's headed for a new system.  Too many variables for me to be 100% confident he's going to bounce back to levels he posted as a starter with Tom Brady throwing him the ball.

Lafell has to bounce back and Wheaton has to just hold serve, as I see it.  Meh, tennis metaphor on a football message board.  Forgive me.

Also who did Big Ben call out at end of year?  Wheaton I believe.. this just supports my idea that he is way too up and down and not a veteran WR mentality... i give edge to Lafell just for that part of the game

The finish to the year was horrible. But that 8-0 start last year wasn't a fluke. There is a lot of potential with this team still. A couple more steps and we are there.

(05-15-2016, 10:04 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Also who did Big Ben call out at end of year?  Wheaton I believe.. this just supports my idea that he is way too up and down and not a veteran WR mentality... i give edge to Lafell just for that part of the game

I have no love for Wheaton, I'm just not sure Lafell is going to bounce-back to a level where he is going to out-perform him.  I suppose we could say that NE was too crowded to keep him, but he did sort of lose his job there and we're picking him up and giving him an instant promotion.  Well, again Core might be the WR savior!

(05-15-2016, 10:13 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I have no love for Wheaton, I'm just not sure Lafell is going to bounce-back to a level where he is going to out-perform him.  I suppose we could say that NE was too crowded to keep him, but he did sort of lose his job there and we're picking him up and giving him an instant promotion.  Well, again Core might be the WR savior!

I understand your point but on paper, on mentality , on experience I give it to Lafell, until proven other wise.. Hell with Wheaton , Coates might beat him out.

(05-15-2016, 10:17 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: I understand your point but on paper, on mentality , on experience I give it to Lafell, until proven other wise.. Hell with Wheaton , Coates might beat him out.

Such is the speculation of the off-season message board, for sure.  It is hard to judge because Wheaton got a promotion to #2 by default and Lafell sort of half lost his job and needs to prove 2015 was a fluke.

(05-15-2016, 08:26 PM)Au165 Wrote: I still haven't figured out how people act like losing Martaviois Bryant isn't a big deal. Wheaton showed a couple flashes but has disappeared plenty. Sammie Coates is still unproven, yet people act like their WR groups is amazing. Without Bryant it is no better than any of the other crew of one super star and a bunch of other guys.

Nice observation Au because the reason many heads give beyond the schedules are the loss of Jones and Sanu, but losing Bryant is glossed over.

Answer these questions:

1. Are the Bengals intimidated by the Steelers?
2. Can they stay poised and not react negatively when Steelers push their buttons?

(05-15-2016, 07:49 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: Let's not act like the NFC east and the AFC east are some amazing divisions. The Ravens are still not that great considering they haven't had a good draft in a while, and a lot of their stars are old as dirt. The Texans and the Broncos aren't that great of teams either. The Broncos lost quite a bit of people from their SB winning team. And the Texans... well they do give us some problems, but we should be able to beat them.

Let's not act like Sanu has really did anything on this team. So really we lost 1 WR in Marvin Jones, but we replaced him with Brandon LaFell who's just as productive, and Tyler Boyd who could possibly be a future star. Andre Smith will be easily replaced by Ogbuehi.

14-2 is easily possible. I remember making a prediction thread before the 2015 season and everyone said those predictions were absurd, and most of them came true, or would have if Dalton would have stayed healthy.

The NGC East will be much better this year.

Kirk Cousins is only going to improve from here.

The Giants are only a few positions away from being the team nobody wants to play in the NFC.

But what worries me the most is Dallas. They have an electric offense with the O-Line that can ensure Geno Atkins doesn't do shit that game.





The AGC East will be the same as last year. Buffalo will probably improve and the Jets pretty much comes down to Fitzpatrick coming back.

Our schedule is a lot harder than it looks.

Bengals will win the north again.

Bengals 12-4/11-5
Steelers 10-6/9-7
Ravens 8-8/7-9
Browns 2-14

And I have a hard time finding the Browns wins .

Just like last year, just like every year. All the talking heads pick Pittsburgh to win the AFCN....every year. Then they say the Bengals and Ravens slug it out for 2nd, with the Bengals missing the playoffs...just like last year. These idiots are all living in the past. Bengals repeat as AFCN champs for the 3rd time in the last 4 years.

(05-15-2016, 11:36 PM)THE Bigzoman Wrote: The NGC East will be much better this year.

Kirk Cousins is only going to improve from here.

The Giants are only a few positions away from being the team nobody wants to play in the NFC.

But what worries me the most is Dallas. They have an electric offense with the O-Line that can ensure Geno Atkins doesn't do shit that game.





The AGC East will be the same as last year. Buffalo will probably improve and the Jets pretty much comes down to Fitzpatrick coming back.

Our schedule is a lot harder than it looks.

The Redskins barley won a division that was horrible last year. They still have a shitty defense, and they don't have THAT great of an offense.

lol the Giants. They're not even close to being scary.

Dallas still has a bad defense. Tony Romo is injury prone, and they don't have a run game. People are waaaay too hyped about Elliot.

The whole NFC east is a bunch of teams with no defenses, and alright offenses. Plus the Bengals always beats the shit out of the NFC. Since 2011 we have only lost 4 games against the NFC, so it's pretty easy to see why I'm not worried about them.

(05-15-2016, 11:36 PM)THE Bigzoman Wrote: The NGC East will be much better this year.

But what worries me the most is Dallas. They have an electric offense with the O-Line that can ensure Geno Atkins doesn't do shit that game.

Our schedule is a lot harder than it looks.

It's a formidable schedule no doubt.   And the NFC East will be a lot better.

But the Dallas game should underscore the benefit of drafting Billings.  Between Peko playing fewer snaps and Billings pressuring the interior of the pocket next to Geno, I think we'll contain Elliot and put a lot of pressure on Romo.

Sportsline predicts the Bengals win the AFCN and says they're a great value with Vegas favoring the Steelers.

http://www.sportsline.com/insiders/25588719/steelers-are-favored-but-not-the-value-play/

As for Wheaton vs LaFell, I think it's too close to call. Sure, LaFell has something to prove after last year, but what exactly has Wheaton done for anyone to act like he's way better? His best season is 749 yards and 5 scores. Jerome Simpson put up similar numbers with a rookie Dalton.

Injuries will determine who comes out on top.  It doesn’t matter how good a team’s roster is if the players can’t get on the field.  I think that Steeler proponents tend to ignore that Big Ben has tendency to get injured.  He is a macho masochist whose instinct is to leave the protection of the pocket and run around on the open field like a madman in order to extend the play.  On the other hand, Dalton gets good offensive line protection, gets rid of the ball quickly and tends to stay healthy.  

Picking Pittsburgh is the safe and smart pick to more analysts. Whether we like it or not, they have the pedigree that this team lacks.

That said, I do think Cincinnati has a very good chance of repeating as Division champs this year. Pittsburgh will battle them for it, but I think Cincinnati will edge them out. They will probably have to hit 12 wins to do it, but they should find a way.