https://www.bengals.com/news/hobson-s-choice-issues-and-answers-x5868?fbclid=IwAR0hrHWcoUEB6XQbCjRssrvFCURB3tdWXcAMCKx2AgM_hqRywvqEnppJiUw

At least he didn't start making silly statements to justify them spending no money in Free Agency....

However, his answers about the OL and where the offseason priority should be are high order loony. Your OL plays like crap and gets your #1 OA pick QB injured and the answer is more bargain shopping? Also the section on Lou just reinforces the notion that the defensive scheme is fundamentally screwed up and Lou is not an NFL caliber coach.

I believe Hobson was born during the depression with his predictions and how he thinks they have like 4 million going into FA every year. I think there media mock is undervaluing Pitts in that they think he is going at 16. He’s too talented a player.

But if you read all the way down to the end, apparently there’s a big surprise waiting the fans in FA. I feel like we are all expecting them to make a few big signings, but it would be an even bigger surprise if they did nothing until the 3rd wave. It would certainly send a message, but not a very good one.

(02-21-2021, 05:29 PM)Joelist Wrote: https://www.bengals.com/news/hobson-s-choice-issues-and-answers-x5868?fbclid=IwAR0hrHWcoUEB6XQbCjRssrvFCURB3tdWXcAMCKx2AgM_hqRywvqEnppJiUw

At least he didn't start making silly statements to justify them spending no money in Free Agency....

However, his answers about the OL and where the offseason priority should be are high order loony. Your OL plays like crap and gets your #1 OA pick QB injured and the answer is more bargain shopping? Also the section on Lou just reinforces the notion that the defensive scheme is fundamentally screwed up and Lou is not an NFL caliber coach.

The good thing is he was saying the same shit last Offseason before FA and we actually went out and spent big.

Now we have our Franchise QB and we need to protect him, do it. No excuses not to. Bring in either Daryl Williams, Ricky 
Wagner, Joe Thuney along with Alex Mack. We can do this no problemo.

I would LOVE to know what Hobson's salary is. Any guesses?

I can't imagine he really puts in all that much work. Some terrible writing, that somehow manages to do more harm than good for his employer, some radio/podcast appearances...

If he's making over 30k then the Bengals are getting ripped off.

(02-21-2021, 07:52 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: The good thing is he was saying the same shit last Offseason before FA and we actually went out and spent big.

Now we have our Franchise QB and we need to protect him, do it. No excuses not to. Bring in either Daryl Williams, Ricky 
Wagner, Joe Thuney along with Alex Mack. We can to this no problemo.

Hobson's official title ought to be Chief Disinformation Officer. I don't put much stock in anything he writes, and that's ok. I don't mind that the ownership isn't totally transparent. They ought to be viewing themselves as being on wartime footing 12 months a year.  

I like how he points out that we spent 199 million last year against a 198 million cap, as proof we never leave space unspent.

The problem with this is, while he is correct that we spent over the cap, he's not including the fact that we rolled over 7 million from the prior year. Which means we spent 199 million in a year we could have theoretically spent 205 million.

All of this gets super confusing because teams can choose to roll over however much they want in unused space. (Ex: You could have 15 million in unspent space, but only choose to rollover 10 million.) So I'm not really concerned with the exact figures.

I just know he's completely full of shit when he claims we left only 1 million in cap unspent over the last 10 years. He's either using some super fuzzy math, or he's straight up lying.

PS This guy is a total chode. I hope he somehow reads these threads and knows everyone is laughing at him.

PPS When him and Dave Lapham manage to hit the same radio show it's like the Homer Olympics. It's fluff for the ages.

So Baghdad Geoff is at it again I see.
Not drafting Pitts thing is dumb and so is not spending on a guard.

(02-21-2021, 08:37 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I like how he points out that we spent 199 million last year against a 198 million cap, as proof we never leave space unspent.

The problem with this is, while he is correct that we spent over the cap, he's not including the fact that we rolled over 7 million from the prior year.  Which means we spent 199 million in a year we could have theoretically spent 205 million.

All of this gets super confusing because teams can choose to roll over however much they want in unused space.  (Ex: You could have 15 million in unspent space, but only choose to rollover 10 million.)  So I'm not really concerned with the exact figures.

I just know he's completely full of shit when he claims we left only 1 million in cap unspent over the last 10 years.  He's either using some super fuzzy math, or he's straight up lying.

PS This guy is a total chode.  I hope he somehow reads these threads and knows everyone is laughing at him.

PPS When him and Dave Lapham manage to hit the same radio show it's like the Homer Olympics.  It's fluff for the ages.

Yup

It's all spin, tap dancing, and math gymnastics. The media will report we have 45 million or whatever to spend. Then Hobspin works it over and shows how it's really only 2.63 million. It's nauseating 

(02-21-2021, 05:29 PM)Joelist Wrote: https://www.bengals.com/news/hobson-s-choice-issues-and-answers-x5868?fbclid=IwAR0hrHWcoUEB6XQbCjRssrvFCURB3tdWXcAMCKx2AgM_hqRywvqEnppJiUw

At least he didn't start making silly statements to justify them spending no money in Free Agency....

However, his answers about the OL and where the offseason priority should be are high order loony. Your OL plays like crap and gets your #1 OA pick QB injured and the answer is more bargain shopping? Also the section on Lou just reinforces the notion that the defensive scheme is fundamentally screwed up and Lou is not an NFL caliber coach.

I quit reading after his answer regarding the lines and free agency. Honestly if you don’t do everything in your power to protect your franchise player then what are we even doing. Yes D line needs addressed but shouldnt even be a consideration until there is an answer for the o-line.

(02-21-2021, 09:12 PM)thompson19osu Wrote: I quit reading after his answer regarding the lines and free agency. Honestly if you don’t do everything in your power to protect your franchise player then what are we even doing. Yes D line needs addressed but shouldnt even be a consideration until there is an answer for the o-line.

Yes... I'm all for pouring the money and picks into the offense this season. Work on lighting the scoreboard up, and keeping Burrow upright this season. Start focusing on trying to stop our opponents after that.

This team has no identity. They don't do anything particularly well. Last year's team had 2 guys that are known by casual fans (maybe a 3rd, but it's mostly because he punched a girl on camera), and one of them probably won't be back. Let's give the offensive "guru" what he needs this year, and see if he can get us respectable on one side of the ball.

Hobson-journalism is just serving as a puppet for Mike Brown and the organization. I don't even read his work anymore.

Hobson said last year we had $25 Million earmarked for free agency and that included money expected for a Mixon extension. Obviously, we ended up spending far more than that so the fact people are getting up in arms over this is pointless. People do this every year with him on draft picks and he misses at an alarming rate for someone who actually sits inside the building. It really does seem at this point that he is no more aligned with the team's actual plans than any other beat writer at this point.

(02-21-2021, 09:12 PM)thompson19osu Wrote: I quit reading after his answer regarding the lines and free agency. Honestly if you don’t do everything in your power to protect your franchise player then what are we even doing. Yes D line needs addressed but shouldnt even be a consideration until there is an answer for the o-line.

(02-22-2021, 12:49 AM)jason Wrote: Yes... I'm all for pouring the money and picks into the offense this season. Work on lighting the scoreboard up, and keeping Burrow upright this season. Start focusing on trying to stop our opponents after that.

This team has no identity. They don't do anything particularly well. Last year's team had 2 guys that are known by casual fans (maybe a 3rd, but it's mostly because he punched a girl on camera), and one of them probably won't be back. Let's give the offensive "guru" what he needs this year, and see if he can get us respectable on one side of the ball.

Yes

Priority #1 - protect JB. Get some major upgrades on Oline through free agency and draft.

Priority #2 - get JB another weapon or two, WR, TE.

Priority #3 - Dline

(02-21-2021, 05:29 PM)Joelist Wrote: https://www.bengals.com/news/hobson-s-choice-issues-and-answers-x5868?fbclid=IwAR0hrHWcoUEB6XQbCjRssrvFCURB3tdWXcAMCKx2AgM_hqRywvqEnppJiUw

At least he didn't start making silly statements to justify them spending no money in Free Agency....

However, his answers about the OL and where the offseason priority should be are high order loony. Your OL plays like crap and gets your #1 OA pick QB injured and the answer is more bargain shopping? Also the section on Lou just reinforces the notion that the defensive scheme is fundamentally screwed up and Lou is not an NFL caliber coach.

I agree. Hobson's plan to add D linemen over O linemen would be to make the Bengals avg everywhere and special nowhere.

The fact that, in an answer to another question, Geoff mentions the D wasn't that bad most games the back halfnof the season while the offense avg only 15 points/game, should tell you everything you need to know.... Which is,  he doesn't know.

Someone tell Hobson that the offense can't score points while the QB is on an operating table and that coaches and technique have never ever... EVER turned water into wine.

BTW, to his credit, Hobson almost always uses self-deprecating humor when he is on the radio or doing podcasts. He admits he doesn't know what they are thinking/doing ahead of time and readily admits these things are just his opinion. He admits he was wrong and points out where the Bengals were wrong all the time.

I’m curious to look back and see how little cap space he said we had to spend last year compared to how much we really spent.

While Hobson works for the Bengals, he seems to more to speculate about things and using previous history in his statements. I don't think he's really giving indication to what the Bengals will do, just what he thinks will happen.

It is kind of surprising he thinks the DL is in worse shape than the OL. I would have expected him to more spout off something like the DL will be fine if Lawson is re-signed because they'll have a "healthy" Reader and Atkins back. And then getting a mid-round draft pick (or two) for the DL to rotate with their starters. This could imply the Bengals are 1) expecting to move on from Atkins, and 2) possibly not re-signing Lawson. If so, those are two very big holes to fill.

Hobson seems to indicate (based on previous team approach I assume) that the best strategy for OL is to fill the OGs with draft pick and/or cheaper FA and then pushing more money toward OT. Given they already have Jonah Williams, I get the impression he's referring to a Bobby Hart replacement if they do spend big on OL in FA. Hobson also states the 1st or 2nd round could be a possibility for a new OT.
Last, I really don't like the continued push that Frank Pollack is going to turn water into wine just by introducing a new scheme and better coaching. That's too much of a gamble, and I don't think the Bengals use that as an excuse not to get at least ONE new OL in FA and/or early in the draft.

(02-21-2021, 08:37 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I just know he's completely full of shit when he claims we left only 1 million in cap unspent over the last 10 years.  He's either using some super fuzzy math, or he's straight up lying.

He is not lying.  Bengals always roll over unused cap space and they only had one million extra last year.

(02-21-2021, 08:10 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I would LOVE to know what Hobson's salary is.  Any guesses?

I can't imagine he really puts in all that much work.  Some terrible writing, that somehow manages to do more harm than good for his employer, some radio/podcast appearances...

If he's making over 30k then the Bengals are getting ripped off.

The thing that gets me about Hobson is his writing ability. It's just bad. Like really, really bad - especially for a professional journalist. 

I'm not kidding when I say that there are more than a handful of posters on this forum that could write better than Hobson. 

(02-22-2021, 11:14 AM)ochocincos Wrote: While Hobson works for the Bengals, he seems to more to speculate about things and using previous history in his statements. I don't think he's really giving indication to what the Bengals will do, just what he thinks will happen.

It is kind of surprising he thinks the DL is in worse shape than the OL. I would have expected him to more spout off something like the DL will be fine if Lawson is re-signed because they'll have a "healthy" Reader and Atkins back. And then getting a mid-round draft pick (or two) for the DL to rotate with their starters. This could imply the Bengals are 1) expecting to move on from Atkins, and 2) possibly not re-signing Lawson. If so, those are two very big holes to fill.

Hobson seems to indicate (based on previous team approach I assume) that the best strategy for OL is to fill the OGs with draft pick and/or cheaper FA and then pushing more money toward OT. Given they already have Jonah Williams, I get the impression he's referring to a Bobby Hart replacement if they do spend big on OL in FA. Hobson also states the 1st or 2nd round could be a possibility for a new OT.
Last, I really don't like the continued push that Frank Pollack is going to turn water into wine just by introducing a new scheme and better coaching. That's too much of a gamble, and I don't think the Bengals use that as an excuse not to get at least ONE new OL in FA and/or early in the draft.

I could make an argument playing devil's advocate that the defensive line has been as bad as the offensive line for a while. The issue is the optics that not addressing the OL has with the franchise QB behind it. In reality, we will not win with the DL as currently constructed as we can't keep linebackers clean at the second level and can't generate a pass rush. Obviously, it would be tough to fix both in a single offseason so I can see the value of settling on attacking the OL now, but it still comes with the understanding that the defense will be one of the worst in the league most likely without significant investment on the DL. 

The issue really is that at OG you are looking at Thuney or bust as it sounds like Scherff is getting the tag again potentially. With that understanding, it is going to put a massive demand on Thuney which could make a bidding war we just are positioned to win. I think Matt Feiler is a really interesting option that has Guard/Tackle flexibility and should run somewhere in the 7 Million per year range give or take a million. If you could add him and Daryl Williams you would potentially be in a place where you can look for value but don't need to completely pass on taking a nice OL prospect that drops. If none fall in your lap you can go to the DL and stock up there and know your line is definitely improved still.

(02-22-2021, 11:19 AM)fredtoast Wrote: He is not lying.  Bengals always roll over unused cap space and they only had one million extra last year.

Then how are we rolling over 10.79 million into 2021?  (If we only had one million extra last year)

https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/2021/01/20/bengals-2021-cap-space-outlook-accounting-rollover-money/

You gave me an explanation for this and I got some rep points for you.