Russell Bodine, JJ Dielman, TJ Johnson, Clint Bodine, Trey Hopkins, Alex Redmond, Christian Westerman, Kent Perkins, Dustin Stanton, Jake Fisher, Landon Lechler, Cedric Ogbuehi, Andre Smith, Eric Winston

These are the O Line blockers. Now some of you may not care. Some of you may be all excited about other players on this team. I TELL YOU, IF THIS TEAM CAN NOT BLOCK, THIS TEAM CAN NOT WIN. The team had blocking problems 2016. Big reason for THE LOSING SEASON...That is right, do not forget our Bengals coming off an AWFUL season and why we drafted high. ....Losing our Left Tackle and Right Guard makes our O Line even WORSE......

It will be up to The Bengals to COACH THEM UP IN SUMMER CAMP.....I myself like the addition of non drafted Kent Perkins from Texas Longhorns. I'm hoping he at least makes reserve team. Maybe strongest weight room player out of college and a solid starter at Texas, a school and state known for football. ....These 14 need COACHED UP and by START OF REGULAR SEASON must be ready as a TEAM. Not Individuals. One Functioning TEAM OF BLOCKERS.

If these guys can't be coached up, Bengals will finish in last place and get quarterbacks and running backs injured. Our receivers will never get the ball as the defenses get to our quarterback too fast. Last place and injuries.

IF however these guys can be COACHED UP......and they FIRE OFF the line and open running lanes....and they can do the even harder NFL Pass Blocking and give our quarterbacks the needed split seconds of timing....THEN WE CAN WIN.

Now I'm not expecting Anthony Munoz, Max Montoya, Dave Lapham, Blair Bush, Mike Wilson, Bruce Reimers, Bruce Koserski, Joe Walter out of this bunch. I'm just hoping they aren't the sad sack 1990's NO BLOCKING BUNGLES of Tom Scott, Ken Moyer, Tom Rayem, Kevin Sargent, Dave Cadigan, Darrick Britz, Scott Brumfield ....or 2008 Eric Giachiuc and Stacy Andrews who on an O Line just awful even with Levi Jones, Whitworth, and Bobby Williams. They got Palmer killed and had Fitzgerald running for his life as the defense poured in on every snap from center.

If they are anything like the awful Bungles lines, Bengals will go 3-13.

If they can come together as a good blocking unit, Bengals can win...Now I do NOT think it was a great draft because the O Line got passed over in Rounds 3, 4 and early 5 as Bengals took an extra WR and even a kicker early. This ignoring the needs at O Line early, I hope doesn't come back to bite them in their assessments. .....Passing over O Line on first 7 picks may be a HUGE mistake.

Agree with this or not, but these 14 names are now THE MOST IMPORTANT names going into Camp and Preseason. It's sink or swim. WITH BLOCKING WE CAN WIN....WITHOUT BLOCKING WE ARE LOOKING AT 3-13 or 4-12. .....Names like Mixon and Ross or even Dalton and Green aren't going to mean much if this team can't BLOCK. For these 14, September will come sooner than they think. They have much to do in a short time. How can you get these 14 guys COACHED UP into a solid. blocking unit. It has to be done or it will be a long losing season for Bengals. This is Bengals biggest challenge this Summer. There is no bigger challenge. Not addressing O Line more in early mid rounds may hurt. I have seen many BUNGLES teams with no blocking. None of the playbook plays of X's and O's work with no blocking. I hope we have Blocking, I really do, because nothing is worse than Bengals in years they can not block. There isn't even any point to watch the games when they can't block heading to 3-13 season.

These 14 names are the most important names going into camp and preseason. We all better hope and pray they can block. It is an NFL O Line very much in question, maybe the weakest O Line in NFL until they prove otherwise. Oh, If this team can't block, I don't want to hear fans blaming Dalton....Now all this said. I'm hoping they can block. I'm hoping they block the team into the Super Bowl, but there is much, much, much work and coaching up to be done this Summer.

A great deal of stress was present in previous seasons where there were changes to the offensive line and the Bengals responded with some of their best rushing attacks in their recent history.

Consider it position by position: Where are they not as good as last year? That's easy...LT. Whit, at 137 years old, would probably be better than Ced. However, the rest of the line is not the same story:

LG: Boling played with an injured shoulder for almost all of last season before shutting it down in week 17. He will be 100% healthy and much more effective than when he was playing through the injury.

C: Boding was not a Pro Bowl caliber player, but the needle continued to point up as he had his best season. There is no reason not to expect him to be even better this year in his contract season.

RG: Although everyone assumes this will be Andre Smith, I wouldn't be surprised to see Alex Redmond win the job. The club feels very good about him. Zeitler was not the Hall of Famer some would lead you to believe. He certainly wasn't worth the ridiculous $12 million per year that Cleveland paid him. This position could actually be better in the rushing attack.

RT: Fisher bounced around before landing at RT and settling in nicely. I like his attitude as well. Tough guy, wants to win. I think he will become a very valued piece of this line as time goes on...He certainly was better than an injured Ced was in the first part of the season. He will be even better next year, now that he can prepare for the RT spot.

So, LT is a concern. At some point, we have to sink or swim at LT with Ced. Maybe he, like many others before him, surprises and has a solid season. If he doesn't, we will see a lot of TE help on his side, or eventually Fisher moves to LT and Smith fills in at RT.

Either way, I don't see it as the five position disaster some would have us believe. It is also naive to not understand that the mere presence of Ross opposite AJ changes the way defenses will stack the box against the Bengals.

Let's review for the upcoming season..


That pretty much covers it..

"If they are anything like the awful Bungles lines, Bengals will go 3-13." 


When I see supposed fans of this team using that word, I lose all interest in them and anything they have to say.

(05-16-2017, 09:15 AM)BonnieBengal Wrote: "If they are anything like the awful Bungles lines, Bengals will go 3-13." 


When I see supposed fans of this team using that word, I lose all interest in them and anything they have to say.

Same no fan of the team would use that word to describe the team.


Its pretty obvious we are gonna spread the field to help the OL this season

(05-16-2017, 03:35 AM)kevin Wrote: Russell Bodine, JJ Dielman, TJ Johnson, Clint Bodine, Trey Hopkins, Alex Redmond, Christian Westerman, Kent Perkins, Dustin Stanton, Jake Fisher, Landon Lechler, Cedric Ogbuehi, Andre Smith, Eric Winston

These are the O Line blockers.  Now some of you may not care. Some of you may be all excited about other players on this team.  I TELL YOU, IF THIS TEAM CAN NOT BLOCK, THIS TEAM CAN NOT WIN.   The team had blocking problems 2016. Big reason for THE LOSING SEASON...That is right, do not forget our Bengals coming off an AWFUL season and why we drafted high. ....Losing our Left Tackle and Right Guard makes our O Line even WORSE......

It will be up to The Bengals to COACH THEM UP IN SUMMER CAMP.....I myself like the addition of non drafted Kent Perkins from Texas Longhorns. I'm hoping he at least makes reserve team. Maybe strongest weight room player out of college and a solid starter at Texas, a school and state known for football. ....These 14 need COACHED UP and by START OF REGULAR SEASON must be ready as a TEAM.  Not Individuals. One Functioning TEAM OF BLOCKERS.

If these guys can't be coached up, Bengals will finish in last place and get quarterbacks and running backs injured.  Our receivers will never get the ball as the defenses get to our quarterback too fast.  Last place and injuries.

IF however these guys can be COACHED UP......and they FIRE OFF the line and open running lanes....and they can do the even harder NFL Pass Blocking and give our quarterbacks the needed split seconds of timing....THEN WE CAN WIN.

Now I'm not expecting Anthony Munoz, Max Montoya, Dave Lapham, Blair Bush, Mike Wilson, Bruce Reimers, Bruce Koserski, Joe Walter out of this bunch.  I'm just hoping they aren't the sad sack 1990's NO BLOCKING BUNGLES of Tom Scott, Ken Moyer, Tom Rayem, Kevin Sargent, Dave Cadigan, Darrick Britz, Scott Brumfield ....or 2008 Eric Giachiuc and Stacy Andrews who on an O Line just awful even with Levi Jones, Whitworth, and Bobby Williams.  They got Palmer killed and had Fitzgerald running for his life as the defense poured in on every snap from center.

If they are anything like the awful Bungles lines, Bengals will go 3-13.

If they can come together as a good blocking unit, Bengals can win...Now I do NOT think it was a great draft because the O Line got passed over in Rounds 3, 4 and early 5 as Bengals took an extra WR and even a kicker early.  This ignoring the needs at O Line early, I hope doesn't come back to bite them in their assessments. .....Passing over O Line on first 7 picks may be a HUGE mistake.

Agree with this or not, but these 14 names are now THE MOST IMPORTANT names going into Camp and Preseason.  It's sink or swim. WITH BLOCKING WE CAN WIN....WITHOUT BLOCKING WE ARE LOOKING AT 3-13 or 4-12. .....Names like Mixon and Ross or even Dalton and Green aren't going to mean much if this team can't BLOCK.  For these 14, September will come sooner than they think. They have much to do in a short time. How can you get these 14 guys COACHED UP into a solid.  blocking unit.  It has to be done or it will be a long losing season for Bengals.  This is Bengals biggest challenge this Summer. There is no bigger challenge. Not addressing O Line more in early mid rounds may hurt.   I have seen many BUNGLES teams with no blocking.  None of the playbook plays of X's and O's work with no blocking.  I hope we have Blocking, I really do, because nothing is worse than Bengals in years they can not block.  There isn't even any point to watch the games when they can't block heading to 3-13 season.

These 14 names are the most important names going into camp and preseason.  We all better hope and pray they can block.  It is an NFL O Line very much in question, maybe the weakest O Line in NFL until they prove otherwise.  Oh, If this team can't block, I don't want to hear fans blaming Dalton....Now all this said. I'm hoping they can block. I'm hoping they block the team into the Super Bowl, but there is much, much, much work and coaching up to be done this Summer.

Christ, opposing defenses poured through the line last year WITH Whit and Zeitler. I think the Bengals have put all their chips on the table in Ced/Fisher this year and it's up to Paul Alexander to work a miracle. If he does, we're at the top of the AFC North. If not, we're fighting the Browns for another top 10 pick.

We will know what we've got right away week 1 vs. the Ravens. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

(05-16-2017, 06:23 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: A great deal of stress was present in previous seasons where there were changes to the offensive line and the Bengals responded with some of their best rushing attacks in their recent history.

Consider it position by position:  Where are they not as good as last year?  That's easy...LT.  Whit, at 137 years old, would probably be better than Ced.  However, the rest of the line is not the same story:

LG:  Boling played with an injured shoulder for almost all of last season before shutting it down in week 17.  He will be 100% healthy and much more effective than when he was playing through the injury.

C:  Boding was not a Pro Bowl caliber player, but the needle continued to point up as he had his best season.  There is no reason not to expect him to be even better this year in his contract season.

RG:  Although everyone assumes this will be Andre Smith, I wouldn't be surprised to see Alex Redmond win the job.  The club feels very good about him.  Zeitler was not the Hall of Famer some would lead you to believe.  He certainly wasn't worth the ridiculous $12 million per year that Cleveland paid him.  This position could actually be better in the rushing attack.

RT:  Fisher bounced around before landing at RT and settling in nicely.  I like his attitude as well.  Tough guy, wants to win.  I think he will become a very valued piece of this line as time goes on...He certainly was better than an injured Ced was in the first part of the season.  He will be even better next year, now that he can prepare for the RT spot.

So, LT is a concern.  At some point, we have to sink or swim at LT with Ced.  Maybe he, like many others before him, surprises and has a solid season.  If he doesn't, we will see a lot of TE help on his side, or eventually Fisher moves to LT and Smith fills in at RT.

Either way, I don't see it as the five position disaster some would have us believe.  It is also naive to not understand that the mere presence of Ross opposite AJ changes the way defenses will stack the box against the Bengals.

I've looked more into Redmond now that I keep seeing his name coming up. The M.O. for the Bengals OL in recent years has been about being athletic, and Redmond is no exception. Coming out of college, his main weakness was that he was very top heavy and needed to put on more weight. Specifically, he needed to build much more muscle in his legs.
Now, according to the Bengals.com roster page, Redmond has gained ~15 lbs since the 2016 combine, so hopefully that's because he really bulked up his lower half.

I don't think there's any doubt this teams success or failure this season hangs in the balance with the offensive line. And quite frankly I don't have a lot of faith.

Oh I'd say we'll win some regular season games and do decent. But when the rubber meets the road (late season must wins, playoffs) we'll get exposed as usual.

Given expected injuries and all the other camp and pre-season drama, I kind of believe 1 or possibly 2 O-line starters are not even on this team yet. They will pick up somebody else's leftovers that didn't make their team. Saw the phrase "coach them up" several times. It's either the players or the coaches or maybe some of each but seems like they never hit the exact formula. I find it just amazing that beliychick picks up the street free agents (at various positions) halfway through the season and they start and go to superbowls - I'm thinking it's the coaching!

(05-16-2017, 06:23 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: A great deal of stress was present in previous seasons where there were changes to the offensive line and the Bengals responded with some of their best rushing attacks in their recent history.

Consider it position by position:  Where are they not as good as last year?  That's easy...LT.  Whit, at 137 years old, would probably be better than Ced.  However, the rest of the line is not the same story:

LG:  Boling played with an injured shoulder for almost all of last season before shutting it down in week 17.  He will be 100% healthy and much more effective than when he was playing through the injury.

C:  Boding was not a Pro Bowl caliber player, but the needle continued to point up as he had his best season.  There is no reason not to expect him to be even better this year in his contract season.

RG:  Although everyone assumes this will be Andre Smith, I wouldn't be surprised to see Alex Redmond win the job.  The club feels very good about him.  Zeitler was not the Hall of Famer some would lead you to believe.  He certainly wasn't worth the ridiculous $12 million per year that Cleveland paid him.  This position could actually be better in the rushing attack.

RT:  Fisher bounced around before landing at RT and settling in nicely.  I like his attitude as well.  Tough guy, wants to win.  I think he will become a very valued piece of this line as time goes on...He certainly was better than an injured Ced was in the first part of the season.  He will be even better next year, now that he can prepare for the RT spot.

So, LT is a concern.  At some point, we have to sink or swim at LT with Ced.  Maybe he, like many others before him, surprises and has a solid season.  If he doesn't, we will see a lot of TE help on his side, or eventually Fisher moves to LT and Smith fills in at RT.

Either way, I don't see it as the five position disaster some would have us believe.  It is also naive to not understand that the mere presence of Ross opposite AJ changes the way defenses will stack the box against the Bengals.

You can almost tell by the way they drafted they are going to spread teams out and make them cover.  If this is the case it should help out the line as blitz packages should be minimized.

(05-16-2017, 03:35 AM)kevin Wrote: Russell Bodine, JJ Dielman, TJ Johnson, Clint Bodine, Trey Hopkins, Alex Redmond, Christian Westerman, Kent Perkins, Dustin Stanton, Jake Fisher, Landon Lechler, Cedric Ogbuehi, Andre Smith, Eric Winston

These are the O Line blockers.  Now some of you may not care. Some of you may be all excited about other players on this team.  I TELL YOU, IF THIS TEAM CAN NOT BLOCK, THIS TEAM CAN NOT WIN.   The team had blocking problems 2016. Big reason for THE LOSING SEASON...That is right, do not forget our Bengals coming off an AWFUL season and why we drafted high. ....Losing our Left Tackle and Right Guard makes our O Line even WORSE......

It will be up to The Bengals to COACH THEM UP IN SUMMER CAMP.....I myself like the addition of non drafted Kent Perkins from Texas Longhorns. I'm hoping he at least makes reserve team. Maybe strongest weight room player out of college and a solid starter at Texas, a school and state known for football. ....These 14 need COACHED UP and by START OF REGULAR SEASON must be ready as a TEAM.  Not Individuals. One Functioning TEAM OF BLOCKERS.

If these guys can't be coached up, Bengals will finish in last place and get quarterbacks and running backs injured.  Our receivers will never get the ball as the defenses get to our quarterback too fast.  Last place and injuries.

IF however these guys can be COACHED UP......and they FIRE OFF the line and open running lanes....and they can do the even harder NFL Pass Blocking and give our quarterbacks the needed split seconds of timing....THEN WE CAN WIN.

Now I'm not expecting Anthony Munoz, Max Montoya, Dave Lapham, Blair Bush, Mike Wilson, Bruce Reimers, Bruce Koserski, Joe Walter out of this bunch.  I'm just hoping they aren't the sad sack 1990's NO BLOCKING BUNGLES of Tom Scott, Ken Moyer, Tom Rayem, Kevin Sargent, Dave Cadigan, Darrick Britz, Scott Brumfield ....or 2008 Eric Giachiuc and Stacy Andrews who on an O Line just awful even with Levi Jones, Whitworth, and Bobby Williams.  They got Palmer killed and had Fitzgerald running for his life as the defense poured in on every snap from center.

If they are anything like the awful Bungles lines, Bengals will go 3-13.

If they can come together as a good blocking unit, Bengals can win...Now I do NOT think it was a great draft because the O Line got passed over in Rounds 3, 4 and early 5 as Bengals took an extra WR and even a kicker early.  This ignoring the needs at O Line early, I hope doesn't come back to bite them in their assessments. .....Passing over O Line on first 7 picks may be a HUGE mistake.

Agree with this or not, but these 14 names are now THE MOST IMPORTANT names going into Camp and Preseason.  It's sink or swim. WITH BLOCKING WE CAN WIN....WITHOUT BLOCKING WE ARE LOOKING AT 3-13 or 4-12. .....Names like Mixon and Ross or even Dalton and Green aren't going to mean much if this team can't BLOCK.  For these 14, September will come sooner than they think. They have much to do in a short time. How can you get these 14 guys COACHED UP into a solid.  blocking unit.  It has to be done or it will be a long losing season for Bengals.  This is Bengals biggest challenge this Summer. There is no bigger challenge. Not addressing O Line more in early mid rounds may hurt.   I have seen many BUNGLES teams with no blocking.  None of the playbook plays of X's and O's work with no blocking.  I hope we have Blocking, I really do, because nothing is worse than Bengals in years they can not block.  There isn't even any point to watch the games when they can't block heading to 3-13 season.

These 14 names are the most important names going into camp and preseason.  We all better hope and pray they can block.  It is an NFL O Line very much in question, maybe the weakest O Line in NFL until they prove otherwise.  Oh, If this team can't block, I don't want to hear fans blaming Dalton....Now all this said. I'm hoping they can block. I'm hoping they block the team into the Super Bowl, but there is much, much, much work and coaching up to be done this Summer.

My God, I just got chills hearing the names from the '90's. Darrick Brilz wasn't terrible though. He gave way to Rich Braham. I remember the likes of Melvin Tuten, Jon Melander, Scott Brumfield and Rod Jones (not the CB). Shiver.

(05-16-2017, 06:23 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: A great deal of stress was present in previous seasons where there were changes to the offensive line and the Bengals responded with some of their best rushing attacks in their recent history.

Consider it position by position:  Where are they not as good as last year?  That's easy...LT.  Whit, at 137 years old, would probably be better than Ced.  However, the rest of the line is not the same story:

LG:  Boling played with an injured shoulder for almost all of last season before shutting it down in week 17.  He will be 100% healthy and much more effective than when he was playing through the injury.

C:  Boding was not a Pro Bowl caliber player, but the needle continued to point up as he had his best season.  There is no reason not to expect him to be even better this year in his contract season.

RG:  Although everyone assumes this will be Andre Smith, I wouldn't be surprised to see Alex Redmond win the job.  The club feels very good about him.  Zeitler was not the Hall of Famer some would lead you to believe.  He certainly wasn't worth the ridiculous $12 million per year that Cleveland paid him.  This position could actually be better in the rushing attack.

RT:  Fisher bounced around before landing at RT and settling in nicely.  I like his attitude as well.  Tough guy, wants to win.  I think he will become a very valued piece of this line as time goes on...He certainly was better than an injured Ced was in the first part of the season.  He will be even better next year, now that he can prepare for the RT spot.

So, LT is a concern.  At some point, we have to sink or swim at LT with Ced.  Maybe he, like many others before him, surprises and has a solid season.  If he doesn't, we will see a lot of TE help on his side, or eventually Fisher moves to LT and Smith fills in at RT.

Either way, I don't see it as the five position disaster some would have us believe.  It is also naive to not understand that the mere presence of Ross opposite AJ changes the way defenses will stack the box against the Bengals.

That is an extremely homeristic few of things.
1.) LT is the most important position on the Offensive line. Having a bad one is like having a bad QB so that alone in itself can break an offensive line.
2.)boiling is a good player but not great I agree where fine there but he is not an all pro player that will elevate others around him.
3.) Bodine needed to be replaced 2 years ago; guy is simply no good.
4.) RG is a question mark fulled with unknowns. Zeitler was a very good player for us and a dependable one as well.  Is he  replaceable yes but  it won't be easy either to replace. Guy was a top 25 offensive lineman last season those don't grow on trees.
5.)Fisher is unkown at this point but I like his upside. Still I doubt he is a future all pro though.

Kevin is a 100% right not sure why people fine this thread so unreasonable. There is some truth that the offensive weapons will take pressure  off the O line. With that being said when push comes to shove the o line will have to hold up and block a lot better if this team wants to be contenders. There is only so much the vertical threats can cover up.

That's crazy talk, man! I never knew an offensive line needed to block in order for a team to win.

Crazy talk, i tell ya.

(05-16-2017, 11:56 PM)J24 Wrote: Kevin is a 100% right not sure why people fine this thread so unreasonable. There is some truth that the offensive weapons will take pressure  off the O line. With that being said when push comes to shove the o line will have to hold up and block a lot better if this team wants to be contenders. There is only so much the vertical threats can cover up.

He's right that we need a solid O line, but as soon as I saw that "B" word, I stopped reading.  He lost all credibility with me. If he wants to post that crap, he needs to get out of Jungle Noise. Jungle Noise is for Bengal fans.

(05-16-2017, 10:45 AM)ochocincos Wrote: I've looked more into Redmond now that I keep seeing his name coming up. The M.O. for the Bengals OL in recent years has been about being athletic, and Redmond is no exception. Coming out of college, his main weakness was that he was very top heavy and needed to put on more weight. Specifically, he needed to build much more muscle in his legs.
Now, according to the Bengals.com roster page, Redmond has gained ~15 lbs since the 2016 combine, so hopefully that's because he really bulked up his lower half.

From what I understand, they said that UCLA doesn't have the greatest strength training program (which kind of surprised me), but that Redmond has really taken to the Bengals program and they feel like he will compete with Westerman for the job at RG.  I thought Andre might make a very good RG, and maybe he still will, but they also like the idea of him as a backup to Fisher and since he is only on a one year deal it makes sense to develop your RG of the future.  

(05-16-2017, 03:14 PM)Daddy-O Wrote: You can almost tell by the way they drafted they are going to spread teams out and make them cover.  If this is the case it should help out the line as blitz packages should be minimized.

Interesting take.  They have gravitated toward faster, better feet, at the tackle position, but I think they still know you need strength and "beef" in the middle.  Boling will be healthy, Bodine is in his contract year and has improved each year, and Redmond/Westerman/Smith could help the running attack with bigger, stronger bodies while Zeitler wanted to be more trim.  

A part of me wondered if Zeitler was trying to become the heir apparent at RT, but the drafting of Fisher and Ced ended that thought.  

(05-16-2017, 11:50 PM)J24 Wrote: That is an extremely homeristic few of things.
1.) LT is the most important position on the Offensive line. Having a bad one is like having a bad QB so that alone in itself can break an offensive line.
2.)boiling is a good player but not great I agree where fine there but he is not an all pro player that will elevate others around him.
3.) Bodine needed to be replaced 2 years ago; guy is simply no good.
4.) RG is a question mark fulled with unknowns. Zeitler was a very good player for us and a dependable one as well.  Is he  replaceable yes but  it won't be easy either to replace. Guy was a top 25 offensive lineman last season those don't grow on trees.
5.)Fisher is unkown at this point but I like his upside. Still I doubt he is a future all pro though.

This is extremely pessimistic view of things.

1.) LT is the most important position on the offensive line if you have a right-handed QB.  What you forget, or choose to ignore, is that Whit struggled mightily when he first got his shot at LT.  Like Ced, he was moved around, and the Bengals regret that decision with Ced.  They also regret that they needed him to play when he wasn't healthy.  I have no was of knowing if Whit was healthy when he started, but I believe he was.  One Bengal's exec told me that Ced would have been the first lineman off the board in this year's draft class if he were being evaluated against them.  They feel that strongly about him.  A healthy start, a full camp at LT (something he hasn't had yet on either account) and I believe he will rise to meet the expectations.  If not, at least they have a backup plan of Fisher to LT and Andre to RT.  Lastly, there is an expression about Father Time being undefeated, and as much as I love Whit, he will be 36 this upcoming season. 

2.) Boling is not an All-Pro that will elevate those around him?  Ok, but do you realize how much a lineman relies on his shoulder strength?  He played through a significant shoulder injury for pretty much the entire season.  There is no way you can look at him at full strength and not think he should be significantly improved.  

3.) Bodine is a solid run blocker and a below average pass-blocker.  I have heard it said that the center position is 99% based on the player's intelligence.  That seems like a stretch to me, but we always give QBs the excuse of "his third OC in six years".  Well, I think this is Bodine's second in three years.  He is heading in to your four with the same OC as last year.  Again, like Boling, I don't see any way how this becomes a regression, especially in his contract year.  He did struggle mightily in his first year, but the Bengals stayed with him and he has improved every season.  And let's be honest:  Jeremy Hill sucked ass against every team not named Cleveland.  Rex Burkhead proved at least some of the issues with the running game were on the shoulders of the RB. 

4.) Zeitler was an average run blocker and an above average pass blocker.  He wasn't worth $12 million per year, but good for him.  His sudden desire to not be "the fat lineman" seemed to deter his development as a run blocker.  Again, some of this is on Hill, but I see younger, stronger guys in Redmond and Westerman that may be able to improve the run blocking of the team.  I know Andre Smith could, and has the potential to be a mauler at RG.


5.) Fisher was toyed with all over the line and formations before finally finding a home at RT.  I like his size, length, and strength.  Plus, more than all that, I like his attitude.  Dude is one tough mother.  He may not be an All-Pro, but I see no way he doesn't offer a significant upgrade over Ced playing injured at RT.  Especially in the running game.

That is four out of five positions on the offensive line that I have provided sound rationale as to why they could be improved in the running game.  If the running game improves, pass blocking becomes easier.  If all this makes me a "homer", so be it.   I just believe that they have made the right moves and we will see a very different offense this season.  A better one.  

(05-17-2017, 06:15 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: This is extremely pessimistic view of things.

1.) LT is the most important position on the offensive line if you have a right-handed QB.  What you forget, or choose to ignore, is that Whit struggled mightily when he first got his shot at LT.  Like Ced, he was moved around, and the Bengals regret that decision with Ced.  They also regret that they needed him to play when he wasn't healthy.  I have no was of knowing if Whit was healthy when he started, but I believe he was.  One Bengal's exec told me that Ced would have been the first lineman off the board in this year's draft class if he were being evaluated against them.  They feel that strongly about him.  A healthy start, a full camp at LT (something he hasn't had yet on either account) and I believe he will rise to meet the expectations.  If not, at least they have a backup plan of Fisher to LT and Andre to RT.  Lastly, there is an expression about Father Time being undefeated, and as much as I love Whit, he will be 36 this upcoming season. 

2.) Boling is not an All-Pro that will elevate those around him?  Ok, but do you realize how much a lineman relies on his shoulder strength?  He played through a significant shoulder injury for pretty much the entire season.  There is no way you can look at him at full strength and not think he should be significantly improved.  

3.) Bodine is a solid run blocker and a below average pass-blocker.  I have heard it said that the center position is 99% based on the player's intelligence.  That seems like a stretch to me, but we always give QBs the excuse of "his third OC in six years".  Well, I think this is Bodine's second in three years.  He is heading in to your four with the same OC as last year.  Again, like Boling, I don't see any way how this becomes a regression, especially in his contract year.  He did struggle mightily in his first year, but the Bengals stayed with him and he has improved every season.  And let's be honest:  Jeremy Hill sucked ass against every team not named Cleveland.  Rex Burkhead proved at least some of the issues with the running game were on the shoulders of the RB. 

4.) Zeitler was an average run blocker and an above average pass blocker.  He wasn't worth $12 million per year, but good for him.  His sudden desire to not be "the fat lineman" seemed to deter his development as a run blocker.  Again, some of this is on Hill, but I see younger, stronger guys in Redmond and Westerman that may be able to improve the run blocking of the team.  I know Andre Smith could, and has the potential to be a mauler at RG.


5.) Fisher was toyed with all over the line and formations before finally finding a home at RT.  I like his size, length, and strength.  Plus, more than all that, I like his attitude.  Dude is one tough mother.  He may not be an All-Pro, but I see no way he doesn't offer a significant upgrade over Ced playing injured at RT.  Especially in the running game.

That is four out of five positions on the offensive line that I have provided sound rationale as to why they could be improved in the running game.  If the running game improves, pass blocking becomes easier.  If all this makes me a "homer", so be it.   I just believe that they have made the right moves and we will see a very different offense this season.  A better one.  

Great post SHRacer. I am of the same mindset until i see different. Doesn't do any good to complain about the O-line
at this point in the Offseason. I must add that J24 saying Boling is no All-Pro gives me pause. When he was healthy i
thought he was better than the guy the Clowns just paid the most ever money to for a Guard.

I definately think Boling could be an All-Pro cause he can be good at BOTH run and pass blocking unlike Zeitler.

Same could be said of Andre Smith who has always been a good run blocking OT. Should be much easier for him to be
a good pass blocker at RG after always blocking on the outside against much better pass rushers.

Good point on Bodine and i hope you are right there. Thought he would of gotten much better but the change in OC's
could of really hampered him, we will see.

Ced is putting in the work and Redmond is a darkhorse in this conversation along with Lechler and Perkins.