While I am all for drafting more offensive linemen, I think Redmond and Westerman deserve a chance to keep working with the first string. The line was a marked improvement these last two weeks. Get a decent Center in there and we might be in better shape than we thought.

Jordan Willis has also looked very good in limited snaps, and we have to find ways to incorporate Tyler Boyd back into our gameplan.

Thoughts?

EDIT: How could I forget WJ3 and Dennard? No brainer.

(01-02-2018, 02:25 PM)Big Boss Wrote: While I am all for drafting more offensive linemen, I think Redmond and Westerman deserve a chance to keep working with the first string.  The line was a marked improvement these last two weeks.  Get a decent Center in there and we might be in better shape than we thought.

Jordan Willis has also looked very good in limited snaps, and we have to find ways to incorporate Tyler Boyd back into our gameplan.

Thoughts?

Obviously WJIII.  He should be an unquestioned starter no matter who else is here.  Josh Malone should probably replace LaFell as a starter.  Can't think of anything LaFell gives that Malone can't.

McCarron

WJ3 is obvious.

Lawson deserves as many snaps as anyone.

Mixon looked good.

Tyler Kroft. Probably deserves as much rep as anyone. He came up big in a few games for us.

I didn't get to watch the whole game, just what they showed on the RedZone, how did the young LBs do, Nickerson and Bell? I'm one of the few here that likes Boyd and thinks he could be an asset to the offense, I would like to know what happened this season, Marvin?
As you mentioned the young guards looked good in limited play.

(01-02-2018, 02:25 PM)Big Boss Wrote: While I am all for drafting more offensive linemen, I think Redmond and Westerman deserve a chance to keep working with the first string.  The line was a marked improvement these last two weeks.  Get a decent Center in there and we might be in better shape than we thought.

Jordan Willis has also looked very good in limited snaps, and we have to find ways to incorporate Tyler Boyd back into our gameplan.

Thoughts?

EDIT: How could I forget WJ3 and Dennard?  No brainer.

Good question.

Wjax & Dennard  - should be CB1 and CB2  ...Dennard into slot when DreK is in
Westerman -  should flat out be a starter next year..no question. He was real impressive and got genuine push on run blocks
Lawson -  slowed down a bit at the end of the year but he is a natural pass rusher
Boyd  - in amongst all the threads on Core/Malone/Ross I raised the fact that Boyd caught a lot of balls (and 3rd down conversions) in his rookie year...in a season when we were weak at WR he should have been targeted more
Gio - seriously hope we don't just give all snaps to Mixon...we look a better offense when we have gio consistently in the mix and not an afterthought

Those 5 for me have definitively earned significant playing/starting time.

Of the rest I am more sceptical because we tend to over estimate potential of our players on the whole

Redmond - flashed strength but pass pro may still need work
J Willis  - I'm not as high on him as others...I'm not sure he offers much more than MJ at the moment
J Evans - he was really exposed at times and probably had too take more snaps than he was ready for but I think he's a keeper
Any WR3  -  one of the more tedious aspects of this year was the debates on Core/Malone/Ross and their potential when they actually did nothing.  I think we're in the market for another WR2 to go with Green and Boyd

Lawson, WJ3, Dennard, Westerman, Redmond, Willis, Boyd, and...Ross.
For those who may not have noticed Willis much, he performed pretty well according to PFF (75.6 rating).
Unfortunately with Westerman and Redmond, only one will probably get a decent amount of snaps unless one or both switch to another OL spot. But at least one of them should see the field.
Boyd should have been given more snaps this year, but for one reason or another was not used as much as his rookie year even when the offense struggled. I liked what I saw the last two games (5 receptions each game).
Ross because I want to see our first round picks playing, not riding the pine. Plus I put more of the blame on Marvin and the other coaches compared to Ross for how his usage was in 2017.

I didn't add Mixon or Kroft in the list because I think they will automatically get more PT with Hill and Eifert hitting FA.

On the flip side, here's who I'd like to see have fewer snaps (or none at all):
Michael Johnson (at least remove him from DE)
Dre Kirkpatrick
Russell Bodine (I stand by my statement that if he is the starter at C next year, my interest in the Bengals will drop significantly until he's replaced)
Trey Hopkins (Yes, he showed some improvement over the year but I still think Westerman and Redmond showed just as much, if not more, than Hopkins did and they played in far fewer games)
Shawn Williams (I still think he'd be best served as a nickel LB, but he's not as bad at safety like some claim)
Nick Vigil
Brandon LaFell
Cedric Ogbuehi

I'll reserve judgement on Jake Fisher until we can see him fully recovered.

I liked a lot of what I saw from the younger players and feel like the Bengals would have been better off late in the season by playing them earlier.

- Lawson was great, but is a situational pass rusher. Tough to use him a ton more.
- Mixon was excellent, especially behind a good line. As was Gio.
- Westerman was one of the draft picks I really liked at the time and was bummed he hadn't been seen. He should start. Lapham said he actually could be a great RT as he has experience doing it as well as the athleticism. Would that possibly make Fisher a RG?
- Malone got open plenty. I would like to see how he develops.
- Boyd
- Kroft
- Willis
-WJ (of course) and Dennard should be the starting CBs, frankly.
- Can DreKirk put on weight and be a free safety?

I wouldn't mind a line that looks like (Left to Right): DRAFTPICK/FA, Westerman/DRAFTPICK, Boling, FISHER, WESTERMAN

Just theorycrafting the last few