(06-20-2019, 09:53 AM)GreenCornBengal Wrote: Yes my thoughts as well. As SUPER as this offense can be... our defense is on the opposite side of the spectrum :/

I don't know what to expect.

Last year at this time I was saying our defense would be fine, but I was worried about our offense.

Look how that turned out.

if the Bengals offense can sustain drives and
have leads in the 4th q.
then the defense will be improved on not being
on the field so much.
Bengals defense after injuries had guys playing
a,high snap count which at times played into
not getting off the field and having bad technique fundamentals

By far the best back we've had since Dillon. This guy could very well be better. I guess we'll have to stay tuned.

Joe Mixon is a special player. Look at what he did last season without the focus of being dominant in the running game. Just imagine what he can do with the focus that Taylor and his staff seem to have.

(06-20-2019, 03:22 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I don't know what to expect.

Last year at this time I was saying our defense would be fine, but I was worried about our offense.

Look how that turned out.

Last year's defense was an aberration. I don't care what team it is in the NFL, when you get down to playing 3rd and 4th string players in key positions, you are screwed. When you get down to playing them in multiple positions, you come in last.

(06-20-2019, 03:22 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I don't know what to expect.

Last year at this time I was saying our defense would be fine, but I was worried about our offense.

Look how that turned out.

I think that feeling was pretty mutual for most fans.

Billings looked like a beast in pre-season which fueled the fire that the D line would cause pressure to help deficiencies in other areas.

I was actually excited to see the steps that D would be taking forward.

Then the season happened.

Ranked 32 in the league??  

(06-20-2019, 07:57 AM)SHRacerX Wrote:   I still wish, however, that they had gotten more depth at the LB position. 

This was a head-scratcher for me personally.

Why wouldn't they bolster an area of glaring weakness on the D?

Even if they use mostly 2 LBer schemes the depth is terrible.

Let's just hope that Pratt stands out and produces.

(06-21-2019, 09:01 AM)BengalsRocker Wrote: This was a head-scratcher for me personally.

Why wouldn't they bolster an area of glaring weakness on the D?

Even if they use mostly 2 LBer schemes the depth is terrible.

Let's just hope that Pratt stands out and produces.

X 100.

I hope Pratt, Davis and Jefferson all show some serious skill and will. We need all the young LBs to come into their own in a big way. If they do, we could really turn it around. Our defense is a solid LB core from being potentially stellar with all the talent we have in the front and back. Naturally its going to take fewer injuries, but we need these young LB to get it pretty fast.

(06-21-2019, 09:14 AM)bengaloo Wrote: X 100.

I hope Pratt, Davis and Jefferson all show some serious skill and will. We need all the young LBs to come into their own in a big way. If they do, we could really turn it around. Our defense is a solid LB core from being potentially stellar with all the talent we have in the front and back. Naturally its going to take fewer injuries, but we need these young LB to get it pretty fast.

You seem to forget the most important aspect of our linebackers lives..Their grandmothers! If ONLY everyone of them were raised by poor old ladies in the worst parts of town.. 

(06-20-2019, 06:27 PM)2MinutesHate Wrote: By far the best back we've had since Dillon.  This guy could very well be better.  I guess we'll have to stay tuned.

He has a long way to go to be better than Dillon, but that will be great if he does.

Dillon was a Hall-of Fame talent, and he was a "violent" runner like Marshawn Lynch.  Here is my favorite stat to show how good Dillon was 

2000 Bengals passing offense.... 506 plays….. 1949 yds..... 3.8 avg. ….. 6 tds
2000 Corey Dillon offense...……. 333 touches. 1593 yds..... 4.8 avg. ….. 7 tds


Everyone knew Dillon was going to get the ball and he still produced.  His first six seasons here we averaged just 4.3 wins.  We won 8 gams in '03, but his decision to get out was made before that season even started.  


Belichick generally does not believe in a "bell cow".  In his 19 season as Pat's head coach Dillon is the only RB with more than 300 touches and he had a lot more (360).  Bill knew he was a special talent and rode him to a Lombardi.  Dillon had 75 more touches in those 3 postseason games.  But he was 30 and worn down from the pounding he took carrying some of the shittiest Bengal teams ever.  If he had played his career for a decent team he would be considered one of the best of best.

My BOLD prediction is that someday we'll all be glad we had Mixon on our team and the ONLY reason this is a BOLD prediction is because BOLD is easier to spell than underestimated and that little B beside the I and U and S is easy to reach.. 

(06-20-2019, 08:08 PM)OSUfan Wrote: Joe Mixon is a special player. Look at what he did last season without the focus of being dominant in the running game. Just imagine what he can do with the focus that Taylor and his staff seem to have.

The whole team should benefit from the ZT hiring. The WR will see less coverage if Mixon runs better behind a revamped line. Dalton will benefit, the TEs will benefit, even the defense will benefit because of an improved time of possession. This team could be a juggernaut or a dud. Still the biggest question, as it was at the end of last season, is defense.

(06-21-2019, 11:16 AM)fredtoast Wrote: He has a long way to go to be better than Dillon, but that will be great if he does.

Dillon was a Hall-of Fame talent, and he was a "violent" runner like Marshawn Lynch.  Here is my favorite stat to show how good Dillon was 

2000 Bengals passing offense.... 506 plays….. 1949 yds..... 3.8 avg. ….. 6 tds
2000 Corey Dillon offense...……. 333 touches. 1593 yds..... 4.8 avg. ….. 7 tds


Everyone knew Dillon was going to get the ball and he still produced.  His first six seasons here we averaged just 4.3 wins.  We won 8 gams in '03, but his decision to get out was made before that season even started.  


Belichick generally does not believe in a "bell cow".  In his 19 season as Pat's head coach Dillon is the only RB with more than 300 touches and he had a lot more (360).  Bill knew he was a special talent and rode him to a Lombardi.  Dillon had 75 more touches in those 3 postseason games.  But he was 30 and worn down from the pounding he took carrying some of the shittiest Bengal teams ever.  If he had played his career for a decent team he would be considered one of the best of best.

Dillon should be borderline HoF based on numbers alone, nevermind the circumstances around him not counting the Patroit years. If you factor those in I'd think it was a no brainer. He compares favorably to other HoF backs that had real teams around them. Can you really say Thurman thomas, Terrell davis, and betis are all better than dillon? I dont see it. And they all played on teams that went to superbowls.

Hopefully he can get in one day, but as weve seen with a few other HoF worthy Bengals, it doesnt seem likely.


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(06-21-2019, 09:01 AM)BengalsRocker Wrote: This was a head-scratcher for me personally.

Why wouldn't they bolster an area of glaring weakness on the D?

Even if they use mostly 2 LBer schemes the depth is terrible.

Let's just hope that Pratt stands out and produces.

I would say that the staff did not see value with the LBs available at the time that they were making their selections. I also want to see these backers under our new LB coach. When you look at measurables many of these young LBs that we have fit well with the measurables you are looking for in the modern NFL linebacker. Different coaching and different scheme could make a huge difference with this group.

(06-21-2019, 09:01 AM)BengalsRocker Wrote: This was a head-scratcher for me personally.

Why wouldn't they bolster an area of glaring weakness on the D?

Even if they use mostly 2 LBer schemes the depth is terrible.

Let's just hope that Pratt stands out and produces.

Unfortunately, the draft didn't have many starting LBer prospects. The top two guys were gone and the OL really needed a young tackle added to it.

We'll have to see what they can do with what they have. We do have the advantage of having a good and deep DL and secondary. We generally only see 3 LBers on the field around 30% of the time.

(06-21-2019, 11:16 AM)fredtoast Wrote: He has a long way to go to be better than Dillon, but that will be great if he does.

Dillon was a Hall-of Fame talent, and he was a "violent" runner like Marshawn Lynch.  Here is my favorite stat to show how good Dillon was 

2000 Bengals passing offense.... 506 plays….. 1949 yds..... 3.8 avg. ….. 6 tds
2000 Corey Dillon offense...……. 333 touches. 1593 yds..... 4.8 avg. ….. 7 tds


Everyone knew Dillon was going to get the ball and he still produced.  His first six seasons here we averaged just 4.3 wins.  We won 8 gams in '03, but his decision to get out was made before that season even started.  


Belichick generally does not believe in a "bell cow".  In his 19 season as Pat's head coach Dillon is the only RB with more than 300 touches and he had a lot more (360).  Bill knew he was a special talent and rode him to a Lombardi.  Dillon had 75 more touches in those 3 postseason games.  But he was 30 and worn down from the pounding he took carrying some of the shittiest Bengal teams ever.  If he had played his career for a decent team he would be considered one of the best of best.

this statement admits our gm failure at that time. thanks fred :)

(06-21-2019, 09:01 AM)BengalsRocker Wrote: This was a head-scratcher for me personally.

Why wouldn't they bolster an area of glaring weakness on the D?

Even if they use mostly 2 LBer schemes the depth is terrible.

Let's just hope that Pratt stands out and produces.

Ditto, and also hoping that they saw more out of Evans and Jefferson to go along with Vigil, Brown, and Pratt than we did and, perhaps, thought they were put in a poor position due to their scheme.  There could be some truth to that, but they were SO bad, I just wonder how much could be attributed to that.

I was certain they would bring in another FA after the dust settled, but I would have thought they would have done it already to get them up to speed.

Are there any FA gurus out there that know if there is a rule about not having to guarantee a contract or something for a veteran signed after a certain date?  I think I remember hearing some reason like that in the past?

(06-22-2019, 06:40 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: Ditto, and also hoping that they saw more out of Evans and Jefferson to go along with Vigil, Brown, and Pratt than we did and, perhaps, thought they were put in a poor position due to their scheme.  There could be some truth to that, but they were SO bad, I just wonder how much could be attributed to that.

I was certain they would bring in another FA after the dust settled, but I would have thought they would have done it already to get them up to speed.

Are there any FA gurus out there that know if there is a rule about not having to guarantee a contract or something for a veteran signed after a certain date?  I think I remember hearing some reason like that in the past?

So bad that even an over-the-hill past his prime LBer would still be better.

It's so funny how we complain on those kind of signings in the past but our LBers like Nickerson(who was a starter might I add)would now make those seem legit.

The Bengals might not be the most ideal team for a FA, but if they're wanting to start, it would have been an enticing situation.

(06-22-2019, 01:58 AM)BengalChris Wrote: Unfortunately, the draft didn't have many starting LBer prospects. The top two guys were gone and the OL really needed a young tackle added to it.

We'll have to see what they can do with what they have. We do have the advantage of having a good and deep DL and secondary. We generally only see 3 LBers on the field around 30% of the time.

Not sure about others but I was not sold on the two top guys. Bush is undersized and has had tackling issues and White was being touted on potential as he is a converted RB that runs fast. When you watched film on White he did not show great instincts and really has not been tested in coverage duties at all.

(06-22-2019, 09:40 AM)OSUfan Wrote: Not sure about others but I was not sold on the two top guys. Bush is undersized and has had tackling issues and White was being touted on potential as he is a converted RB that runs fast. When you watched film on White he did not show great instincts and really has not been tested in coverage duties at all.

Without those two top guys the LB crop coming out of the college ranks could have been one of the worst in a long time. It wasn't very good with them.

Hopefully, Bush will continue to having tackling issues in the NFL. 

I am happy that we didn't reach for a project at LB out of desperation.