(01-12-2017, 02:33 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Funny how suddenly that seemed to happen. Just goes to show that when you have a talented young core, you can't waste it by ignoring FA and sticking with a modern day Jim Mora at HC...and an incompetent lifer o-line coach.

Geno Atkins should be a future HOFer, but being stuck on a going nowhere team with no publicity will hurt his chances.

Halle-freaking-lujah!

Yep. The window to compete slams shut fast in the NFL. And the Bengals have been pretty lucks as we haven't had an career-ending injuries to major stars...or even guys that were dominant that slowed down because of injuries.

(01-12-2017, 02:18 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: There is a perception among fans that the Bengals have a young team on the rise...but that isn't reality any more. After 5 years of playoffs...our core has aged.

Peko, MJ, Dansby, Maualuga, and Jones are all guys getting up there in age and declining.

It's a lot of starters to replace in 1 year.

Peko will be a rotational guy (as he was supposed to be this year) IF he is re-signed.  

MJ will become a backup with a fairly high draft selection likely outplaying him and, hopefully, become relegated to so-called rushing downs.  

Dansby will not be back

Maualuga will be relegated to short-yardage and goal line.  

Adam Jones is a wild card (in more ways than one), as if he is going to be suspended, I could see the Bengals cutting bait.

Instead of looking at how they were "starters" vs back ups, look at them as talent.  Will the talent that replaces them be better or worse?

They haven't proven it yet, but Billings and Hardison look to be more than capable in replacing Peko. 
MJ has declined so much that many, including myself, though Hunt and Clarke should have been playing instead of him.
Vigil looked good in his first start, and made a play on a TE that I haven't seen a Bengal LB not named Burfict execute since Takeo Spikes. Ditto Maualuga in pass coverage...Vigil will be starting SAM with Vinny at MIKE and Burfict WILL but Vigil and Burfict will be the likely nickel package...which is nearly 70% of the snaps.
Jones declined a lot in the offseason, but played himself in to better condition as the season wore on.  I think WJIII and Dennard will be given every opportunity to replace him, with Shaw in the slot. 

That is nearly 50% of the starting defensive roster upgraded with the only real unknown being Jones vs. WJIII and Dennard.  I am much more optimistic on this defense with the likes of Billings, Hardison, and WJIII contributing plus 11 draft picks in all.  

(01-12-2017, 02:18 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: There is a perception among fans that the Bengals have a young team on the rise...but that isn't reality any more. After 5 years of playoffs...our core has aged.

Peko, MJ, Dansby, Maualuga, and Jones are all guys getting up there in age and declining.

It's a lot of starters to replace in 1 year.

All those failed draft picks are haunting us. Hunt, Clarke, Thompson, Still [that's a whole DL right there], then there's Oguebui who was a complete fail.

I like that we have several good corners on the team, but my God we need to start using them more, earlier.

(01-12-2017, 02:33 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Funny how suddenly that seemed to happen. Just goes to show that when you have a talented young core, you can't waste it by ignoring FA and sticking with a modern day Jim Mora at HC...and an incompetent lifer o-line coach.

Geno Atkins should be a future HOFer, but being stuck on a going nowhere team with no publicity will hurt his chances.

Best reply in a long time. 

(01-13-2017, 08:56 AM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: In the 1970s George Blanda was a freak, playing well into his 40s.  Brett Favre was still deadly at 41 and with New England's stellar offensive line, Tom Brady might play another five to ten years at a high level.  Andy Dalton is a very young 29 and if the Bengals get a real offensive line coach, he could play until his hair looks like a Buckeye helmet: Mostly gray with some red here and there.

Come on man...

First you say that PB knew Center was the most important position on offense. Now you're trying to say Brady is going to play another five to ten years. Stop it.

QBs can play later in life but when they go...they go quick. Manning set the world on fire in '13 and then he was effectively done towards the end of '14. Brady will be the same. He'll look great right now, then the closer he gets to 40/41 he will start to fall off the cliff. 

(01-12-2017, 02:18 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: There is a perception among fans that the Bengals have a young team on the rise...but that isn't reality any more. After 5 years of playoffs...our core has aged.

Peko, MJ, Dansby, Maualuga, and Jones are all guys getting up there in age and declining.

It's a lot of starters to replace in 1 year.

We have Peko's replacement with Billings who is only 21.

We can draft MJ's replacement at 9.

Doubt Dansby and Adam are back.

Need to let Maualuga go, he lost his hair.

We will be younger next year. Billings, WJ3, Vigil, draft picks etc.

(01-15-2017, 03:32 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Brady will be the same. He'll look great right now, then the closer he gets to 40/41 he will start to fall off the cliff. 

I hope you're right about that.

(01-15-2017, 04:07 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: We have Peko's replacement with Billings who is only 21.

We can draft MJ's replacement at 9.

Doubt Dansby and Adam are back.

Need to let Maualuga go, he lost his hair.

We will be younger next year. Billings, WJ3, Vigil, draft picks etc.

We'll be YOUNGER...but will we be BETTER. That's the big question.

For instance, they may replace Zeitler with Westerman. We get younger...but not necessarily better.

Replacing Zeitler with Westerman is asanine. How did oggieboggie do replacing Smith after he was handed the job. Stupid

(01-15-2017, 06:40 PM)Socal Bengals fan Wrote: Replacing Zeitler with Westerman is asanine. How did oggieboggie do replacing Smith after he was handed the job. Stupid

Agree. I think it's insane...but I could see them doing it.

(01-12-2017, 02:37 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Yeah I think there is a tendency for fans to think that a young team will continue to get better...but that really didn't happen. The Bengals struck gold with Dalton, Atkins, Dunlap, and Green...and lived on that success for years. Now the team has aged to a point where they need to do atleast a partial rebuild. With what to show for it? Playoff appearances with 0 wins.

And that's on the HC, and his assistant coaches. Throw in ownership too.

(01-15-2017, 03:32 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Come on man...

First you say that PB knew Center was the most important position on offense. Now you're trying to say Brady is going to play another five to ten years. Stop it.

QBs can play later in life but when they go...they go quick. Manning set the world on fire in '13 and then he was effectively done towards the end of '14. Brady will be the same. He'll look great right now, then the closer he gets to 40/41 he will start to fall off the cliff. 

It may happen that way, but Brady and Manning are very different guys when it comes to offseason training and don't forget Manning was suffering nerve damage from his neck injury. Brady has stated he wants to play until he's 50 and he's working hard to achieve that. Manning never made that a goal, so I'm assuming he wasn't doing the necessary things with his diet and exercise to achieve that goal.

(01-16-2017, 01:01 AM)Yojimbo Wrote: It may happen that way, but Brady and Manning are very different guys when it comes to offseason training and don't forget Manning was suffering nerve damage from his neck injury. Brady has stated he wants to play until he's 50 and he's working hard to achieve that. Manning never made that a goal, so I'm assuming he wasn't doing the necessary things with his diet and exercise to achieve that goal.

Probably a good amount of QBs, in their prime and later, want to play till they're 50. The human body won't allow it though. Not with the size and speed of players today.

(01-16-2017, 01:36 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Probably a good amount of QBs, in their prime and later, want to play till they're 50. The human body won't allow it though. Not with the size and speed of players today.

Brady's arm already isn't what it was. They scheme around it with tons of short throws.

Eventually he won't even be able to get velocity on the short ones. Same thing happened to Peyton.

Brady won't be effective at 42, let alone 50. The drop off will happen.

(01-16-2017, 01:58 AM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Brady's arm already isn't what it was. They scheme around it with tons of short throws.

Eventually he won't even be able to get velocity on the short ones. Same thing happened to Peyton.

Brady won't be effective at 42, let alone 50. The drop off will happen.

It always does. Look at Mr. Ironman himself, Brett Favre. The body of a 35+ year old man just can't continue to heal after being hit by much younger/stronger men. Neck injury aside, Manning was rarely sacked throughout his career. Bumps and dings become much bigger obstacles to overcome later in life. 

I hope we go for some youth in the draft, but I really want Mike Williams. I think this year showed that without AJ our offense doesn't move much. We need some help, for sure.

(01-14-2017, 06:12 PM)SHRacerX Wrote: Peko will be a rotational guy (as he was supposed to be this year) IF he is re-signed.  

MJ will become a backup with a fairly high draft selection likely outplaying him and, hopefully, become relegated to so-called rushing downs.  

Dansby will not be back

Maualuga will be relegated to short-yardage and goal line.  

Adam Jones is a wild card (in more ways than one), as if he is going to be suspended, I could see the Bengals cutting bait.

Instead of looking at how they were "starters" vs back ups, look at them as talent.  Will the talent that replaces them be better or worse?

They haven't proven it yet, but Billings and Hardison look to be more than capable in replacing Peko. 
MJ has declined so much that many, including myself, though Hunt and Clarke should have been playing instead of him.
Vigil looked good in his first start, and made a play on a TE that I haven't seen a Bengal LB not named Burfict execute since Takeo Spikes. Ditto Maualuga in pass coverage...Vigil will be starting SAM with Vinny at MIKE and Burfict WILL but Vigil and Burfict will be the likely nickel package...which is nearly 70% of the snaps.
Jones declined a lot in the offseason, but played himself in to better condition as the season wore on.  I think WJIII and Dennard will be given every opportunity to replace him, with Shaw in the slot. 

That is nearly 50% of the starting defensive roster upgraded with the only real unknown being Jones vs. WJIII and Dennard.  I am much more optimistic on this defense with the likes of Billings, Hardison, and WJIII contributing plus 11 draft picks in all.  

I think Maualuga, Peko and a few others should be let go. Let Vinny Rey and Billings start in their spot. Our defense lacks speed big time. 

(01-16-2017, 02:27 AM)The Caped Crusader Wrote: I hope we go for some youth in the draft, 

As opposed to some old guys?  :)

(01-16-2017, 02:31 AM)rfaulk34 Wrote: As opposed to some old guys?  :)

I can see the statement going both ways, as an obvious and the fact that our team is getting old...which might not be too obvious for Lewis and Co....