(10-04-2016, 02:42 PM)leonardfan40 Wrote: Marvin Jones is the one that really hurts, and by all accounts our offer was nearly identical to the one he accepted from Detroit. He just wanted to be a #1 WR and we already have a pretty good one of those. Can't really blame the FO for that. Nelson and Hall are aging, and our secondary has been good this season. I'll admit there is currently a drop off at safety from Nelson to Williams but at some point you have to move on from the older guys and let the young guys have a shot. I don't think Ced has been the real issue with the o line although he's not perfect yet, seems that the real issue is at center. Maybe having a young tackle and a poor center next to Zietler is hurting his ability more than just the center was last year, but give ced time to develop. Also many people wanted to bench Andre or let him walk anyway saying his play was declining and he had injury issues.

The rest of the guys you mentioned were overrated role players who got overpaid. I was glad Sanu walked for the price tag. My biggest gripe with the FO was that they panicked and tried to match the crazy contract Atlanta gave him.

Hue and Vance both left for promotions they weren't going to get here, not at all the FO's fault. In reality it just shows how good our FO has been that teams are constantly stealing our assistants.

In summary, I wish we still had Jones and Reggie, but I certainly don't blame the FO for the decisions they made. Give this group time, like you said there has been a lot of change and it's only natural that there be an adjustment period

(10-04-2016, 04:40 PM)fredtoast Wrote: LaFell is on pace to catch 52 passes for 832 yards (16.0 avg).
Last year Jones caught 65 passes for 816 yards (12.6 avg)

(10-04-2016, 10:04 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Keeping Erickson over Tate looks to be a mistake.

(10-04-2016, 02:21 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: After a quarter of the season, I think its fair to say. The difference in the talent and the coaching between this year and last year is very evident.

They let Reggie Nelson, Marvin Jones, Andre Smith, Sanu, Leon Hall, Emmanual Lamur, Wallace Gilberry, Vance Joseph, and Hugh Jackson walk.

I know each of those players/coaches have different circumstances around why they left, and some are justified, but how could we honestly think we were going to be better this year than last year?

Thats a CRAP TON of talent and roster depth. It kind of pisses me off looking back on it that the FO didnt make more of a push this off season to bring some of these guys back or replace them with quality replacements.

You are seeing the results from this off season. Poor offensive line, not as effective defensive line, poor secondary play, and a step back in the coaching and coordinating of this team.

(10-05-2016, 08:18 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: I understand completely what you are saying here, but let me offer some perspective:

The money that was paid to guys like Marvin, Sanu, and 1. Nelson was ridiculous and not worth the investment here. Why?  Because Eifert, as we are witnessing, is much more important to this offense (rushing and red zone) than the WRs Jones and Sanu.  The others simply aren't as good as the options the Bengals had to replace them with so it was a good decision.  2. All these FA defections will yield significant compensatory picks in next year's draft....and they just became trade-able (the picks).  With no FA acquisitions, the calculation is a bit of a mystery, but the max I believe a team could acquire is three third rounders.  That would be borderline incredible.  And Jones, Sanu, Hall, Nelson, and Smith are all starting and a number of them are highly compensated.  Somehow, that all figures in to the equation.  

The coaches?  You don't own the rights to them, but I agree it is very disappointing the way they stuck with Marvin yet again.  I would have much rather had Hue running the team with Marvin as some personnel manager (and I would pay him well to do that....dude knows talent).  You can say they didn't learn from their first loss with Zimmer, but Mike Brown clearly would rather have the conservative coach that is not at all outspoken to run his team.  

The offensive line still has a chance to gel and end the season as a solid unit.  I believe in Fisher and Ced O.  The defensive line is at least holding up against some of the better teams in the NFL, and they should start to look much better with Tez back out there.  I also am very encouraged that Hunt and Clarke seem to be solid contributors.  I really thought keeping them and not signing Freeney was a big mistake.  

The big whiff was at Center.  It appears Bodine might actually be worse than feared.  He is on roller skates.  Not pushing him with a FA or a decent draft selection was a big mistake.  Look at what Alex Mack has done for Altanta.  That could have been Cincy.  You can bet next year, an early pick will be used at Center.  

Right now, Altanta looks pretty good with their FA acquisitions, but it also forces them to have a 3. paper-thin roster.  They don't have talent in the wings like the Bengals to back up numerous positions.  If/when they suffer a few key injuries...well, they started last year 5-0 as well....and finished 8-8

(10-04-2016, 02:21 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: After a quarter of the season, I think its fair to say. The difference in the talent and the coaching between this year and last year is very evident.

They let Reggie Nelson, Marvin Jones, Andre Smith, Sanu, Leon Hall, Emmanual Lamur, Wallace Gilberry, Vance Joseph, and Hugh Jackson walk.

I know each of those players/coaches have different circumstances around why they left, and some are justified, but how could we honestly think we were going to be better this year than last year?

Thats a CRAP TON of talent and roster depth. It kind of pisses me off looking back on it that the FO didnt make more of a push this off season to bring some of these guys back or replace them with quality replacements.

You are seeing the results from this off season. Poor offensive line, not as effective defensive line, poor secondary play, and a step back in the coaching and coordinating of this team.

(10-04-2016, 06:48 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: No kidding.  If any man was ever ready to take over, it was Mike Zimmer.  Is it any wonder that I have adopted the Vikings as my second team?

(10-04-2016, 04:51 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Okay then.

In the first four games last year Jones had 10 catches for 165 yards.

Through his first four games this year Lafell has 13 catches for 208 yards.

LaFell has more than replaced Jones's production.

(10-04-2016, 02:21 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: After a quarter of the season, I think its fair to say. The difference in the talent and the coaching between this year and last year is very evident.

They let Reggie Nelson, Marvin Jones, Andre Smith, Sanu, Leon Hall, Emmanual Lamur, Wallace Gilberry, Vance Joseph, and Hugh Jackson walk.

I know each of those players/coaches have different circumstances around why they left, and some are justified, but how could we honestly think we were going to be better this year than last year?

Thats a CRAP TON of talent and roster depth. It kind of pisses me off looking back on it that the FO didnt make more of a push this off season to bring some of these guys back or replace them with quality replacements.

You are seeing the results from this off season. Poor offensive line, not as effective defensive line, poor secondary play, and a step back in the coaching and coordinating of this team.

(10-05-2016, 10:47 AM)BengalChris Wrote: Last time I looked the NFL had free agency and guys like Marvin Jones, Vance Joseph and Hugh Jackson wanted more than the money, they wanted a higher up job.

I'm surprised we are missing Andre Smith as much as we are.

(10-05-2016, 10:41 AM)Sled21 Wrote: You're right, I don't know why we didn't keep them all.....oh wait, the salary cap....nevermind. As for coaches, we should have just made them all head coach here so they wouldn't leave...... LaFell is doing better than Sanu and Jones, Andre Smith is stinking it up in Minnesota, I haven't been keeping up with Gilberry, but Jackson just had a fire sale in Cleveland and has yet to win a game. Yeah, our front office is stinking it up alright.....

(10-05-2016, 10:46 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Why dont you compare Jone's stats from this year to Lafells from this year? 

That tells a different story. 

(10-05-2016, 10:46 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Why dont you compare Jone's stats from this year to Lafells from this year? 

That tells a different story. 

(10-05-2016, 11:22 AM)ItsOdellThurman Wrote: What do you guys expect?  Great coordinators will get head coaching jobs.  Should we be paying Mike Zimmer and Hue Jackson the same contracts they are getting as head coaches to be our OC and DC?  News flash...no other NFL team does this.

Unfortunately, Marvin has had some great coaches who are older and wanted shots to be head coaches.  A place like New England, McDaniels has already failed as a HC and Patricia is still very young, and very possibly the next coach after BB.  They have stability at the coordinator position, not because of lack of talent, but situation.  Dick LeBeau failed as a HC badly, but settled in as a fine DC and was comfortable with that for the rest of his career.

As for the players, it's simple.

Marvin Jones was offered what he got in Detroit, he wanted to be "the man" and didn't want to return if he wasn't.  He's showing why.
Reggie Nelson has not been all than impressive in Oakland, and suffice to say Williams/Shaw are just as good and cheaper (until Williams got extended).
Leon Hall...really?  Might have made sense after WJIII went down, but you can't predict stuff like that.
Andre Smith...I'll just LOL at this one.  He sucks and we nailed this one down when we drafted 2 tackles in 2015.
Wallace Gilberry?  Well, our d-line has gotten great production from Clarke and Hunt, not sure why Gilberry is even mentioned.
Mo Sanu got an insane deal from Atlanta, one the Bengals wouldn't have come close to.  To boot, Sanu stinks in Atlanta so far.

What you're basically saying is the Bengals should've kept everyone...and what I'm saying is...they did about as good as they could have.  The better argument would've been them being more aggressive in bringing in pieces to replace these guys.  Thus far, I haven't been impressed with Dansby or LaFell.  Jackson went down, Dennard was hurt and not very good and obviously Eifert's injury has been well-documented how the team bungled that.  Burfict was suspended and we're breaking in a new tackle (who is still better than Andre Smith, BTW).  Our losses were to 2 of the top 3 or 4 teams in the AFC.

Color me optimistic, actually.