Are we putting too much faith in Burfict? I mean the guy is a great player but not one that i would count on to be there. Who do we have other than him at LB? Both reys suck, Vigil we have no idea, Dansby is a FA. Everyone knows Burfict has a target on his back and some is justified, he just seems one play away from another suspension. Should we be more focused on a LB in the top 3 Rds. When you take a deeper look into this team there are holes all over the place. This is a huge make or break off season, even with all the draft picks (which they have to kill) we are still going to have to be more active in FA than usual with our own and bringing vets in.

(01-16-2017, 06:58 PM)TKUHL Wrote: Are we putting too much faith in Burfict? I mean the guy is a great player but not one that i would count on to be there. Who do we have other than him at LB? Both reys suck, Vigil we have no idea, Dansby is a FA. Everyone knows Burfict has a target on his back and some is justified, he just seems one play away from another suspension. Should we be more focused on a LB in the top 3 Rds. When you take a deeper look into this team there are holes all over the place. This is a huge make or break off season, even with all the draft picks (which they have to kill) we are still going to have to be more active in FA than usual with our own and bringing vets in.

Rey is great as a backup not really a starter though. Vigil played great down the stretch but we do need one. Either Cunningham, beckwith, or McMillan in second or third round would drastically improve our lb Corp 

I really dont trust this front office to draft a LB. Since Marvin has been here Maualuga has been the most productive LB he drafted. We lucked into Burfict.

I think we need to keep finding our LBs in free agency and guys that don't cost us draft picks.

We have drafted a LB in 6 of the last 7 drafts with not much to show for it.

Vigil (potential)
Dawson (potential, but was cut and made it through waivers and on practice squad all year)
Flowers (potential)
Sean Porter (nothing)
Dontay Moch (nothing)
Roderick Muckelroy (nothing)

Then we get to
Maualuga
Angelo Craig
Ahmad Brooks
AJ Nicholson
Odell Thurman
Caleb Miller
Landon Johnson
Khalid Abdullah

If we would sign a decent free agent LB that isn't way past their prime I think we could find an answer. There is a good number of LBs I like in this draft. I just don't trust Marvin Lewis to pick the right one or be able to coach him up.

Burfict is entering a contract year and will be 27 this year. If there is anyone on this team who we need to give an extension to this year it is him.

(01-16-2017, 07:15 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: I really dont trust this front office to draft a LB. Since Marvin has been here Maualuga has been the most productive LB he drafted. We lucked into Burfict.

I think we need to keep finding our LBs in free agency and guys that don't cost us draft picks.

We have drafted a LB in 6 of the last 7 drafts with not much to show for it.

Vigil (potential)
Dawson (potential, but was cut and made it through waivers and on practice squad all year)
Flowers (potential)
Sean Porter (nothing)
Dontay Moch (nothing)
Roderick Muckelroy (nothing)

Then we get to
Maualuga
Angelo Craig
Ahmad Brooks
AJ Nicholson
Odell Thurman
Caleb Miller
Landon Johnson
Khalid Abdullah

If we would sign a decent free agent LB that isn't way past their prime I think we could find an answer. There is a good number of LBs I like in this draft. I just don't trust Marvin Lewis to pick the right one or be able to coach him up.

Burfict is entering a contract year and will be 27 this year. If there is anyone on this team who we need to give an extension to this year it is him.

An extension? The guy has Multiple concussions, a microfractur surgery on one of his knees,  shows up overweight, and is always targeted by refs. I think we should consider trading him instead of signing him long-term.

Yeah.... Foster is starting to look real good at #9.

I don't know about y'all, but I'm not putting "too much" faith in Burfict. Besides the fact that the guy is either injured or suspended every season, the guy needs some help out there. Heck, I've been trying to steer folks to the idea of LB in the 1st for a while now.


http://thebengalsboard.com/Thread-Aside-from-OL-what-position-group-do-the-Bengals-need-most-improvement

(01-16-2017, 07:45 PM)J24 Wrote: An extension? The guy has Multiple concussions, a microfractur surgery on one of his knees,  shows up overweight, and is always targeted by refs. I think we should consider trading him instead of signing him long-term.

Yet he is one of the best players on the field every time he suits up. 

In order to get better at LB, trading away one of the best in the league who is in his prime is the exact opposite of what you would want to do. 

(01-16-2017, 09:44 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Yet he is one of the best players on the field every time he suits up. 

In order to get better at LB, trading away one of the best in the league who is in his prime is the exact opposite of what you would want to do. 

Shh.  Makes too much sense.  You need to throw something whacky and nonsensical in there like..."maybe they should cut his snaps in half so that he costs less in FA" or something.

Nah. It's just with Rey Maualuga and Karlos Dansby on the field, Vontaze Burfict has to play all three linebacker spots at once because those other guys are too slow to react and too slow to move.

can't wait for vigil to start with burfict next year.

(01-16-2017, 09:44 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Yet he is one of the best players on the field every time he suits up. 

In order to get better at LB, trading away one of the best in the league who is in his prime is the exact opposite of what you would want to do. 

Except he is not one of the best LBers maybe most overrated but not one of the best. The guy can't cover anyone man to man anymore which is a problem considering that we play in a passing league. If it were 2005 then I would have no problem with him but it's not it's 2017 and we need a guy at LB that can cover much more ground than him.

(01-16-2017, 07:45 PM)J24 Wrote: An extension? The guy has Multiple concussions, a microfractur surgery on one of his knees,  shows up overweight, and is always targeted by refs. I think we should consider trading him instead of signing him long-term.

Riiiight.  Cuz out defense is exactly the same with him and without him.  Let's go backwards.

(01-16-2017, 06:58 PM)TKUHL Wrote: Are we putting too much faith in Burfict? I mean the guy is a great player but not one that i would count on to be there. Who do we have other than him at LB? Both reys suck, Vigil we have no idea, Dansby is a FA. Everyone knows Burfict has a target on his back and some is justified, he just seems one play away from another suspension. Should we be more focused on a LB in the top 3 Rds. When you take a deeper look into this team there are holes all over the place. This is a huge make or break off season, even with all the draft picks (which they have to kill) we are still going to have to be more active in FA than usual with our own and bringing vets in.

No, he's just are only reliable LB right now. I think if Vigil continues to get more snaps he could be a solid LB, Vinnie is more of a solid backup/st guy in my eyes and we have yet to see the athletic LB Dawson get any meaningful playtime. Burfict instantly makes our defense go, yes he plays outside the lines from time to time, but he's a mean, nasty, don't give a shit type of ol' school player we've been lacking.

(01-17-2017, 01:22 AM)J24 Wrote: Except he is not one of the best LBers maybe most overrated but not one of the best. The guy can't cover anyone man to man anymore which is a problem considering that we play in a passing league. If it were 2005 then I would have no problem with him but it's not it's 2017 and we need a guy at LB that can cover much more ground than him.

You must have missed the 2015 playoff game against the steelers.yes he had the huge penalty but as far as play goes he was the best player on the field that day.he was everywhere.ints ,sacks,tfl,pb,he almost won the game for us with his int an his sack got us back in it.the penalty killed us but it was a questionable call.shaziers hit was way worse and not called

(01-16-2017, 06:58 PM)TKUHL Wrote: Are we putting too much faith in Burfict? I mean the guy is a great player but not one that i would count on to be there. Who do we have other than him at LB? Both reys suck, Vigil we have no idea, Dansby is a FA. Everyone knows Burfict has a target on his back and some is justified, he just seems one play away from another suspension. Should we be more focused on a LB in the top 3 Rds. When you take a deeper look into this team there are holes all over the place. This is a huge make or break off season, even with all the draft picks (which they have to kill) we are still going to have to be more active in FA than usual with our own and bringing vets in.

I would agree that between injuries and suspensions, he's not really someone we can count on long term.  We need to add a starter in FA or early in the draft and give Vigil a fair opportunity to start.

(01-16-2017, 07:15 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: I really dont trust this front office to draft a LB. Since Marvin has been here Maualuga has been the most productive LB he drafted. We lucked into Burfict.

I think we need to keep finding our LBs in free agency and guys that don't cost us draft picks.

We have drafted a LB in 6 of the last 7 drafts with not much to show for it.

Vigil (potential)
Dawson (potential, but was cut and made it through waivers and on practice squad all year)
Flowers (potential)
Sean Porter (nothing)
Dontay Moch (nothing)
Roderick Muckelroy (nothing)

Then we get to
Maualuga
Angelo Craig
Ahmad Brooks
AJ Nicholson
Odell Thurman
Caleb Miller
Landon Johnson
Khalid Abdullah

If we would sign a decent free agent LB that isn't way past their prime I think we could find an answer. There is a good number of LBs I like in this draft. I just don't trust Marvin Lewis to pick the right one or be able to coach him up.

Burfict is entering a contract year and will be 27 this year. If there is anyone on this team who we need to give an extension to this year it is him.

Dhani Jones and Thomas Howard were the only two vet FA LBs that I can recall have been any kind of good during their time in Cincinnati. What other LBs picked up in FA were good? Lawson, Dansby, and Hawk have all been on the lower end of performance.

I thought that Marvin Lewis would always have good starting LBs given his experience as a LB coach. But the LBs have more often been mediocre during Lewis' tenure in Cincinnati.

I'm reading things akin to:

Le'veon Bell can't be counted on, between his suspensions and injuries every year. The Steelers probably should just trade him and draft a new guy.

Ben, too.

(01-17-2017, 11:36 AM)ochocincos Wrote: Dhani Jones and Thomas Howard were the only two vet FA LBs that I can recall have been any kind of good during their time in Cincinnati. What other LBs picked up in FA were good? Lawson, Dansby, and Hawk have all been on the lower end of performance.

I thought that Marvin Lewis would always have good starting LBs given his experience as a LB coach. But the LBs have more often been mediocre during Lewis' tenure in Cincinnati.

You are right. Its not like we have hit it out of the park with the free agents. That is why I said we need to sign one that isn't way past their prime. But it seems to me that during Marvin's time the LB position is near the top when it comes to outside free agents we have signed. 

I would rather overspend on a free agent LB than end up with a top 10 bust like Rivers or waste picks on guys like Sean Porter, Moch, Muckelroy that just never do anything. 

(01-17-2017, 01:12 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: You are right. Its not like we have hit it out of the park with the free agents. That is why I said we need to sign one that isn't way past their prime. But it seems to me that during Marvin's time the LB position is near the top when it comes to outside free agents we have signed. 

I would rather overspend on a free agent LB than end up with a top 10 bust like Rivers or waste picks on guys like Sean Porter, Moch, Muckelroy that just never do anything. 

I'd like to see Kiko Alonso brought in if we're looking for outside FAs around their prime. To me, that would solidify the LBs and allow the Bengals to focus elsewhere in the draft.

(01-17-2017, 11:37 AM)TGISunday Wrote: I'm reading things akin to:

Le'veon Bell can't be counted on, between his suspensions and injuries every year.  The Steelers probably should just trade him and draft a new guy.

Ben, too.

Nobody will trade for him, between his injury issues and the fact that he's a PR nightmare.  We aren't in a position to trade him, either, as bad as the LB corps is.  However, next year is a contract year, and you have to be reticent about giving him a big money contract