I came away last night very impressed by Nico dropping back in the passing lanes. And also i liked his pop when he did hit someone. He needs to get off those blocks a little better but for a guy that gets injured a lot and now finally playing i kept saying who is this guy thoughts?

(08-15-2015, 09:35 AM)CincyProduct Wrote: I came away last night very impressed by Nico dropping back in the passing lanes. And also i liked his pop when he did hit someone. He needs to get off those blocks a little better but for a guy that gets injured a lot and now finally playing i kept saying who is this guy thoughts?

Yes me too.  He came in from KC when we were really hurting at LB last year and has really stepped up.

This has been the first offseason he was healthy since he was in college. His last two years have been spent on rehab instead of training.

Plus when he was thrown in the fire for us last year he still did not really understand the defense

see...http://bengalsboard.net/Thread-Maualuga-s-injury-may-give-Nico-Johnson-a-chance

(08-15-2015, 11:56 AM)fredtoast Wrote: This has been the first offseason he was healthy since he was in college.  His last two years have been spent on rehab instead of training.

Plus when he was thrown in the fire for us last year he still did not really understand the defense

see...http://bengalsboard.net/Thread-Maualuga-s-injury-may-give-Nico-Johnson-a-chance

Yeah I think I first noticed him because you mentioned him Fred. He really did look good last night. On special teams too -- he got downfield fast on some of Hubers booming punts to make tackles that others were missing. 

I would hope we have better players starting, but he seems to factor into the depth. He made good plays last night but got blown away on some plays. He did play a lot of snaps, saw a lot of action. I'm hoping our starting linebackers are better, and the return of Pro Bowl Burfict would be huge. A J Hawk could help this team. I want this defense to be Super Bowl from front to back. We will have a Super Bowl D Line. I think our DB's are pretty good. Now if the LB's can step up and make this a Super Bowl defense. Nico looks like he will at least be a back-up, and we need great talent in case of injuries to reach the Super Bowl.

Excellent! I'm hoping he's a lock for the 53.

(08-15-2015, 12:07 PM)kevin Wrote: I would hope we have better players starting, but he seems to factor into the depth. He made good plays last night but got blown away on some plays. He did play a lot of snaps, saw a lot of action. I'm hoping our starting linebackers are better, and the return of Pro Bowl Burfict would be huge. A J Hawk could help this team. I want this defense to be Super Bowl from front to back. We will have a Super Bowl D Line. I think our DB's are pretty good. Now if the LB's can step up and make this a Super Bowl defense. Nico looks like he will at least be a back-up, and we need great talent in case of injuries to reach the Super Bowl.

This.  He may be nothing but a back up but last year showed us how important back up can be.  Weren't all three of our starters (Burfict, Mauauluga, Lamur) missing at the same time last year?

And remember in '08 when we had Robert Geathers and Kevin Kaesviharn lining up at LB?

I thought he looked good too. Even if he is only a back-up he looks like at the least a competent one. I like his hustle.

I like Nico, fine backup Linebacker.

I also really like Marquis Flowers.

Linebacker might not be as bad off as some of us thought. Hawk looks good, Lamur looked good and if Burfict
comes back and Mr. Dawson becomes the man he could be we could be very good with this core.