http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/20164155/nfl-best-worst-offensive-arsenals-running-backs-wide-receivers-tight-ends-32-1-2017-nfl-season

Quote:#6 - Cincinnati Bengals:

Another set of talents sapped by injury a year ago, the Bengals got to see Tyler Eifert and A.J. Green line up together for only three full games in 2016. They averaged 26 points in those three games and 19 points per contest during the other 13. Giovani Bernard also tore his ACL, and Jeremy Hill suffered a late-season knee injury. By the end of the season, Andy Dalton was throwing the ball to Brandon LaFell and Cody Core.

The Bengals never spend money in free agency, but they've drafted reinforcements. After re-signing LaFell, Cincy used its first-round pick on Washington speedster John Ross before taking disgraced Oklahoma back Joe Mixon in the second round. Last year's second-round pick Tyler Boyd should also be better, leaving the Bengals with four viable starting wideouts, three useful running backs and a star tight end in a contract year. If Ross (who has missed the entire offseason after undergoing shoulder surgery) and Mixon make an immediate impact, the Bengals could be close to unstoppable on offense.

Thoughts? Too low? Too high? Just right, Goldilocks?

When healthy I don't see any team with better weapons.... and I'm normally one who says we lack weapons for Dalton. We are loaded on offense if Ross and Mixon are as advertised, and we stay healthy.

If you are just talking weapons we are right up in the top 3 if all these guys are healthy, probably #1.

AJ Green and Tyler Eifert are both two of the best at their positions when healthy. The Falcons have Julio Jones but
they don't have a TE like Eifert. The Patriots have Gronk but they don't have a WR like Green. The Packers have great
Wideouts but they don't have a TE like Eifert either.

Then adding a speedster like John Ross to Tyler Boyd, Brandon Lafell, Cody Core and now Josh Malone along with our
backup TE's we are pretty damn deep.

Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard are very good pass catching RB's to boot.

Dalton should have a monster year. Not mentioning why he wouldn't which has been beat to death.

Too snarky an option? I get it that there are people who dislike and flat out hate Mixon for what he did, and justifiedly so but, I'm pretty sure anyone who would take the time to read a hypothetical sports article would already know exactly who Mixon is and what he's done. I'm sorry that this is completely off topic it's just so damn annoying to see every article that mentions Mixon the writer feels the need to put their own little jab in there.

(07-27-2017, 04:11 PM)TKUHL Wrote: Too snarky an option? I get it that there are people who dislike and flat out hate Mixon for what he did, and justifiedly so but, I'm pretty sure anyone who would take the time to read a hypothetical sports article would already know exactly who Mixon is and what he's done. I'm sorry that this is completely off topic it's just so damn annoying to see every article that mentions Mixon the writer feels the need to put their own little jab in there.

I thought the same thing initially. Disgraced is a pretty harsh word for a kid that made one terrible mistake.

BTW, if we are not healthy atleast some of these guys #6 is about right.

I do think our offense can be lethal if the line holds. But until we prove otherwise I think #6 is pretty generous. We are putting too much faith in the following.
1. Injury prone players to somehow be reliable
2. Rookies that have proved nothing
3. A O line that was horrible last year with 2 pro bowlers. Now we lost those 2 players. We've done very little, Mikey's Minimum to improve but it's somehow going to be better.

So when I say I think we can be lethal, I'm more less hoping as a fan. I'm excited about the rookies potential like everyone else. But even if 1&2 work out, 3 is still a huge IF.

Btw, did anyone else notice that the article calls Rex Burkhead a "power back"? This made me laugh, as he's definitely not a power back, he's just not fast. This article inaccurately compares him with Mike Gillislee, which is probably the worst comparison ever.

(07-27-2017, 04:40 PM)TKUHL Wrote: I do think our offense can be lethal if the line holds. But until we prove otherwise I think #6 is pretty generous. We are putting too much faith in the following.
1. Injury prone players to somehow be reliable
2. Rookies that have proved nothing
3. A O line that was horrible last year with 2 pro bowlers. Now we lost those 2 players. We've done very little, Mikey's Minimum to improve but it's somehow going to be better.

So when I say I think we can be lethal, I'm more less hoping as a fan. I'm excited about the rookies potential like everyone else. But even if 1&2 work out, 3 is still a huge IF.

Everything is a huge IF with every team.

Plus, when was Zeitler a Probowler? Must of missed this. I believe Boling is the better all around Guard.

Glad we kept the right one, just like i was happy when we kept Dunlap instead of MJ at the time.

(07-27-2017, 04:11 PM)TKUHL Wrote: Too snarky an option? I get it that there are people who dislike and flat out hate Mixon for what he did, and justifiedly so but, I'm pretty sure anyone who would take the time to read a hypothetical sports article would already know exactly who Mixon is and what he's done. I'm sorry that this is completely off topic it's just so damn annoying to see every article that mentions Mixon the writer feels the need to put their own little jab in there.

Two things will make it go away--stay out of trouble(which I think he will) and be a beast on the field(and i think he'll do that too).  It won't happen overnight, though.

(07-27-2017, 05:41 PM)McC Wrote: Two things will make it go away--stay out of trouble(which I think he will) and be a beast on the field(and i think he'll do that too).  It won't happen overnight, though.

True, gotta give him credit (I know some just cringed) for hanging in there and not giving up knowing this will follow him for a long time if not his whole life.

(07-27-2017, 04:58 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Everything is a huge IF with every team.

Plus, when was Zeitler a Probowler? Must of missed this. I believe Boling is the better all around Guard.

Glad we kept the right one, just like i was happy when we kept Dunlap instead of MJ at the time.

I thought he was an alternate one year. My bad. Not sure about Boling being better but that's just my opinion. I preferred Zeitler over Kirkpatrick. I know you can't keep everyone and at some point you have to move on but I just don't see how this line is better. Of course everything is a IF, it's an even greater IF when little is done to improve.

(07-27-2017, 07:08 PM)TKUHL Wrote: I thought he was an alternate one year. My bad. Not sure about Boling being better but that's just my opinion. I preferred Zeitler over Kirkpatrick. I know you can't keep everyone and at some point you have to move on but I just don't see how this line is better. Of course everything is a IF, it's an even greater IF when little is done to improve.

Zeitler has been the better pass blocker, Boling the better run blocker but Boling is good at pass blocking too and can
pull in the running game very well. I wanted both Whit and Zeit over Kirkpatrick myself but that was before the crazy
amount of dough these guys were offered. Whit is pretty old to get a 3 year deal and Zeit was WAY overpaid IMHO.

We will see about the line, overall it could be better especially in the run game but we all know Og is not going to be
better than Whit this year. This isn't going to happen but he should significantly improve.

I wanted a backup plan too man, i guess the backup plan is if Og continues to struggle we move Fisher to LT and
Andre to RT. But from what we have all seen so far Og is much better this Offseason, nice for him to finally get an
Offseason to actually work on everything and buff up.

But back to the thread, we have as good of an arsenal as anybody if they live up to their potential and stay healthy.

This is my honest opinion. We are stacked with weapons even if some are unproven rookies at this point.

(07-27-2017, 07:17 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Zeitler has been the better pass blocker, Boling the better run blocker but Boling is good at pass blocking too and can
pull in the running game very well. I wanted both Whit and Zeit over Kirkpatrick myself but that was before the crazy
amount of dough these guys were offered. Whit is pretty old to get a 3 year deal and Zeit was WAY overpaid IMHO.

We will see about the line, overall it could be better especially in the run game but we all know Og is not going to be
better than Whit this year. This isn't going to happen but he should significantly improve.

I wanted a backup plan too man, i guess the backup plan is if Og continues to struggle we move Fisher to LT and
Andre to RT. But from what we have all seen so far Og is much better this Offseason, nice for him to finally get an
Offseason to actually work on everything and buff up.

But back to the thread, we have as good of an arsenal as anybody if they live up to their potential and stay healthy.

This is my honest opinion. We are stacked with weapons even if some are unproven rookies at this point.

It's good to hear Og is looking better at LT. But I'm still worried about the line. Bodine was a weak link last year and now his poor play is over shadowed by the departure of Z and Whit. I just hope they know what their doing cause this FA and draft went by and they seemed to give the impression that the line is fine and dandy. Maybe they see good things in Westerman, Mayock seemed impressed with him.

As far as the offensive talent I agree 100% if these guys live up to the hype and we stay healthy look out. I've been saying this is the year it all comes together. I just hope all this potential talent on offense isn't wasted due to poor line play and the fact that Brown & Co seemed content with it would make it even more frustrating than it already is.

I really do think that on the skill position side (take the O-line out of the equation, take the coaching out of the equation), we have the best group in the league. I really can't think of many other teams that can even stack up currently.

I suppose Cowboys, Falcons, Cardinals, and Steelers have strong offenses as well.

There are a lot of ????'s though. The rookies have to live up to the hype, Eifert needs to stay healthy and AJ needs to lead the group more than he ever has before.

Tyler Boyd is the secret weapon in my opinion. IF and this is a big if, IF the team uses Ross/Mixon properly, Boyd should be open every play.

(07-27-2017, 04:11 PM)TKUHL Wrote: Too snarky an option? I get it that there are people who dislike and flat out hate Mixon for what he did, and justifiedly so but, I'm pretty sure anyone who would take the time to read a hypothetical sports article would already know exactly who Mixon is and what he's done. I'm sorry that this is completely off topic it's just so damn annoying to see every article that mentions Mixon the writer feels the need to put their own little jab in there.

I didn't see it as snarky. Dude leveled a woman. That would be considered disgraced In most people's book. I for one want this to be brought up. He will probably never do anything like that again in his life. Hopefully it will turn out to be a great redemption story. If he stays out of trouble and is as delivered on the field, they will talk about how much he has turned his life around.


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(07-27-2017, 09:28 PM)fullonbehavior Wrote: I didn't see it as snarky.  Dude leveled a woman. That would be considered disgraced In most people's book. I for one want this to be brought up. He will probably never do anything like that again in his life. Hopefully it will turn out to be a great redemption story. If he stays out of trouble and is as delivered on the field, they will talk about how much he has turned his life around.


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here is the problem with the statement.. what does it have to do with the rating and lets be fair across the board then.. for example I noticed he said nothing about Elliot off season issues or Bryant suspension or issue with Big Ben when in their rating.. so seems a bit out bias to just make a comment on Mixon and not on others and a comment that has no relationship to the article of power offense anyway bottom line

(07-27-2017, 03:44 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: When healthy I don't see any team with better weapons.... and I'm normally one who says we lack weapons for Dalton. We are loaded on offense if Ross and Mixon are as advertised, and we stay healthy.

Only ones who comes close is New England. The Steelers are up there but don't have the quality TE that the pats and bengals.

Honestly, if this roster is wearing Pats uniforms? They win 3 SB's in a row. However, wearing Bengals Uniforms we are hopeful for a playoff win.

(07-27-2017, 03:56 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: If you are just talking weapons we are right up in the top 3 if all these guys are healthy, probably #1.

AJ Green and Tyler Eifert are both two of the best at their positions when healthy. The Falcons have Julio Jones but
they don't have a TE like Eifert. The Patriots have Gronk but they don't have a WR like Green. The Packers have great
Wideouts but they don't have a TE like Eifert either.

Then adding a speedster like John Ross to Tyler Boyd, Brandon Lafell, Cody Core and now Josh Malone along with our
backup TE's we are pretty damn deep.

Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard are very good pass catching RB's to boot.

Dalton should have a monster year. Not mentioning why he wouldn't which has been beat to death.

Well you are right the packers don't have eifert. But they do have Martellus Bennett.... who is arguably the better right end outside of the insane 13 td season. (Brennet has more catches each of the last 5 years than eiferts career year and has also gained more yards in 4/5) he also doesn't miss many games

And while the patriots don't have green, they do have cooks, amendola, hogan, Edelman who all
Fit their system.

Bengals are top 5 for sure.

Raider, Tampa, jags, dolphins also have really good skill players/potential

(07-27-2017, 10:32 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: Only ones who comes close is New England. The Steelers are up there but don't have the quality TE that the pats and bengals.

Closest imo is the giants. They have Marshall, Shepard, obj, Ingram, tye.