Simple question ....after a turbulent, merry go round in 2017 on the OLine who in the heck are our best 5 OL???

Big frustration for me is that in the last 2 games we fell into (by circumstance and NOT by design) the most serviceable OL we had all season. 

At the start of the year Alexander seemed to be projecting a line of Og - Boling - Bodine - A.Smith - Fisher....which was still born once Dre could not play OG and our OT's started terribly

Our 'best' lines of the year only had Bodine in the same position at Center...everything else was different personnel or position wise with Boling - Westerman - Bodine - Hopkins - Winston.

So where does that leave us now??...I think we need to stop pi$$ing around and just pick the 5 best guys

Boling
Smith
Westerman
Bodine
Hopkins
Redmond
Winston
Fisher/Og

For me (ahead of draft and FA) that would mean the line I would go with right now is Boling - Westerman - Bodine - Hopkins - A.Smith

(01-02-2018, 03:03 PM)sonofstat Wrote: Simple question ....after a turbulent, merry go round in 2017 on the OLine who in the heck are our best 5 OL???

Big frustration for me is that in the last 2 games we fell into (by circumstance and NOT by design) the most serviceable OL we had all season. 

At the start of the year Alexander seemed to be projecting a line of Og - Boling - Bodine - A.Smith - Fisher....which was still born once Dre could not play OG and our OT's started terribly

Our 'best' lines of the year only had Bodine in the same position at Center...everything else was different personnel or position wise with Boling - Westerman - Bodine - Hopkins - Winston.

So where does that leave us now??...I think we need to stop pi$$ing around and just pick the 5 best guys

Boling
Smith
Westerman
Bodine
Hopkins
Redmond
Winston
Fisher/Og

For me (ahead of draft and FA) that would mean the line I would go with right now is Boling - Westerman - Bodine - Hopkins - A.Smith

If Lewis comes back and the house isn't cleaned, which looks like the case, there is no way Brown/Lewis/Alexander will let Og and Fisher sit!  That's the reality of the situation.

(01-02-2018, 03:03 PM)sonofstat Wrote: Simple question ....after a turbulent, merry go round in 2017 on the OLine who in the heck are our best 5 OL???

Big frustration for me is that in the last 2 games we fell into (by circumstance and NOT by design) the most serviceable OL we had all season. 

At the start of the year Alexander seemed to be projecting a line of Og - Boling - Bodine - A.Smith - Fisher....which was still born once Dre could not play OG and our OT's started terribly

Our 'best' lines of the year only had Bodine in the same position at Center...everything else was different personnel or position wise with Boling - Westerman - Bodine - Hopkins - Winston.

So where does that leave us now??...I think we need to stop pi$$ing around and just pick the 5 best guys

Boling
Smith
Westerman
Bodine
Hopkins
Redmond
Winston
Fisher/Og

For me (ahead of draft and FA) that would mean the line I would go with right now is Boling - Westerman - Bodine - Hopkins - A.Smith

Not sure I'm ready to put Hopkins over Redmond. Dude was pretty much garbage all year

(01-02-2018, 03:06 PM)bengalguy71 Wrote: If Lewis comes back and the house isn't cleaned, which looks like the case, there is no way Brown/Lewis/Alexander will let Og and Fisher sit!  That's the reality of the situation.

yeah I know but bear with me for this thread please!!

My point was that once draft history , contract situations etc, were irrelevant because of injuries we just had to play the next best guys up....and we looked pretty good.

So who are simply the best 5 we have right now for OL?

PS ;  I think its particularly damning on Alexander that the Oline that played well the last 2 games were all available and in camp but were deemed not to be good enough ...Westerman /Redmond at guard...we tried everyone at LT but Boling who may have been the best...Smith only got back to OT after he could not play OG and our OTs sucked...Winston was cut then brought back.

(01-02-2018, 03:08 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Not sure I'm ready to put Hopkins over Redmond. Dude was pretty much garbage all year

I thought Bodine might be the one people challenged!

  ..yes, Hopkins was really poor at times and I thought of flip-flopping the two but if my life depended on a game being played tomorrow I'd probably go Hopkins - Redmond was good against the Lions but felt he struggled in pass pro when he was in yesterday.

(01-02-2018, 03:03 PM)sonofstat Wrote: Simple question ....after a turbulent, merry go round in 2017 on the OLine who in the heck are our best 5 OL???

Big frustration for me is that in the last 2 games we fell into (by circumstance and NOT by design) the most serviceable OL we had all season. 

At the start of the year Alexander seemed to be projecting a line of Og - Boling - Bodine - A.Smith - Fisher....which was still born once Dre could not play OG and our OT's started terribly

Our 'best' lines of the year only had Bodine in the same position at Center...everything else was different personnel or position wise with Boling - Westerman - Bodine - Hopkins - Winston.

So where does that leave us now??...I think we need to stop pi$$ing around and just pick the 5 best guys

Boling
Smith
Westerman
Bodine
Hopkins
Redmond
Winston
Fisher/Og

For me (ahead of draft and FA) that would mean the line I would go with right now is Boling - Westerman - Bodine - Hopkins - A.Smith

If we went with who we had this year, I'd go with...
LT - Boling
LG - Westerman
C - TJ Johnson (he's always seemed better than Bodine at C from what I remember)
RG - Redmond
RT - Smith

With that said, I'd prefer and expect to see a new center picked up in offseason (likely draft) that I would have more hope of being in the top half of starting centers than TJ Johnson.
And I think OT needs to be drafted.
I think re-signing Smith will help in the short term for OT. But don't play games with him when it comes to whether he will play guard or OT. He's OT only.

I would go:

Boling
Redmond
Westerman
Hopkins
Smith

that said, I would like to draft a new LT and a new Center this year and then go:

New LT
Boling
New C
Westerman/Redmond
Smith/Fisher

(01-02-2018, 03:18 PM)sonofstat Wrote: I thought Bodine might be the one people challenged!

  ..yes, Hopkins was really poor at times and I thought of flip-flopping the two but if my life depended on a game being played tomorrow I'd probably go Hopkins - Redmond was good against the Lions but felt he struggled in pass pro when he was in yesterday.

I'm seeing this becoming a common theme, especially when talking about OL prospects in the draft section.
While Redmond may struggle some in pass pro, he helped at some electricity in the run game.
While most will say it's a passing league, I think that a team can still win with a really good run game, especially when Andy Dalton is the QB.
I'd be ok with seeing some sacks given up if the tradeoff was a top 10 rushing offense.

(01-02-2018, 03:24 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I'm seeing this becoming a common theme, especially when talking about OL prospects in the draft section.
While Redmond may struggle some in pass pro, he helped at some electricity in the run game.
While most will say it's a passing league, I think that a team can still win with a really good run game, especially when Andy Dalton is the QB.
I'd be ok with seeing some sacks given up if the tradeoff was a top 10 rushing offense.

Agree...and in any OLine prospect thread I am definitely in the roadgrader camp as I think that is more valuable to us right now.   Just for the purposes of this discussion I was struggling to split Hopkins and Redmond.

I would like to see what a healthy Jake Fisher can actually do Out of control afib is physically and mentally exhausting for a normal human. I can't imagine playing football.

(01-02-2018, 03:22 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I would go:

Boling
Redmond
Westerman
Hopkins
Smith

that said, I would like to draft a new LT and a new Center this year and then go:

New LT
Boling
New C
Westerman/Redmond
Smith/Fisher

As long as Westerman is starting I'm happy....however has he played C at all?    

He was more impressive at OG for me then Redmond so I'd be inclined to leave him where he is and build on the relationship with Boling

(01-02-2018, 03:38 PM)sonofstat Wrote: As long as Westerman is starting I'm happy....however has he played C at all?    

He was more impressive at OG for me then Redmond so I'd be inclined to leave him where he is and build on the relationship with Boling

Wasn't there talk of Westerman being able to play C when he was drafted?  Or at least able to project to C?  Who was Jefro's backup after TJ went on IR?

(01-02-2018, 03:42 PM)McC Wrote: Wasn't there talk of Westerman being able to play C when he was drafted?  Or at least able to project to C?  Who was Jefro's backup after TJ went on IR?

People hoped he could because he was compared stylistically to Alex Mack and we had 2 great guards already when the truth was the Bengals gave up on Zeitler already and drafted a hopefully replacement rather than someone who they thought could compete at center. 

But he only played guard at ASU. No idea about High School. 

(01-02-2018, 03:47 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: People hoped he could because he was compared stylistically to Alex Mack and we had 2 great guards already when the truth was the Bengals gave up on Zeitler already and drafted a hopefully replacement rather than someone who they thought could compete at center. 

But he only played guard at ASU. No idea about High School. 

Who was the backup C at the end of the year?

We need to draft 2 new lineman, one a stud in RD #1, then play the best 5 regardless of their previous draft position. If that means cutting Ogb then so be it. He's going to make his money regardless of whether he's playing or not - if his play hurts the team he shouldn't be taking up a roster spot. Same goes for Fisher. I've seen plays where he looks clueless.

I'd say pick another OL in RD #2 but we need a LB badly also.

Westerman must be in this group, I don't care if he starts at LG, RG, C or wherever but he needs to be one of the starting 5 O-lineman

(01-02-2018, 03:49 PM)McC Wrote: Who was the backup C at the end of the year?

Probably TJ Johnson. He has been since he's been here. 

How Bengal is it that Jefro's greatest ability is availability? He suxx but he is always there, thus preventing a better replacement from getting a chance.

Bodine has to go - he is pretty clearly the worst Center in the NFL and has been for years.

(01-02-2018, 03:03 PM)sonofstat Wrote: Simple question ....after a turbulent, merry go round in 2017 on the OLine who in the heck are our best 5 OL???

Big frustration for me is that in the last 2 games we fell into (by circumstance and NOT by design) the most serviceable OL we had all season. 

At the start of the year Alexander seemed to be projecting a line of Og - Boling - Bodine - A.Smith - Fisher....which was still born once Dre could not play OG and our OT's started terribly

Our 'best' lines of the year only had Bodine in the same position at Center...everything else was different personnel or position wise with Boling - Westerman - Bodine - Hopkins - Winston.

So where does that leave us now??...I think we need to stop pi$$ing around and just pick the 5 best guys

Boling
Smith
Westerman
Bodine
Hopkins
Redmond
Winston
Fisher/Og

For me (ahead of draft and FA) that would mean the line I would go with right now is Boling - Westerman - Bodine - Hopkins - A.Smith

Boling, Andre, Westerman, Redmond and Winston.

Get Bodine the hell out of here and replace him with Billy Price then replace Winston with a younger FA.