(12-17-2017, 01:05 PM)RoyleRedlegs Wrote: Lafell has been one of the worst blocking WRs of the year. You could literally just not try and have similar success. Should be about WR skill at that point 

(12-17-2017, 08:32 AM)McC Wrote: Yeah, two plays define a career.  SMH.

(12-17-2017, 11:12 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Shake your head all you want. I didn't say those two plays defined his career. But, he's had two plays that I've seen, and has failed on both. I think that tells me more about how ready he is than hand picked practice videos he's posted.....

(12-17-2017, 11:12 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Shake your head all you want. I didn't say those two plays defined his career. But, he's had two plays that I've seen, and has failed on both. I think that tells me more about how ready he is than hand picked practice videos he's posted.....

(12-18-2017, 03:07 AM)McC Wrote: Yeah, you pretty much did.   Jumping to conclusions is exercise, at least.

(12-15-2017, 10:54 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Yikes. He must have been DEEP into Marvins dog house. Wonder what the real story is.

To be fair though, thats only about 10 reps of what is most like a few hundred reps from practice. So who knows.

(12-15-2017, 12:33 PM)Yojimbo Wrote: All the clips are just catching passes. Earlier in the year Marv was criticizing Ross on his blocking ability. If he was hiding a shoulder injury, that would make blocking pretty difficult, just ask Boling last year. Marv has always said the WR on this team have to be committed to run blocking if they want to play.

(12-15-2017, 05:41 PM)Jakeypoo Wrote: So you think Marvin is going to ruin his whole reputation over a rookie WR?  There is way more to this story than a handful of practice clips.

(12-16-2017, 02:12 PM)Jakeypoo Wrote: Geno played his rookie year no he didn't start but he did play on passing downs, Carlos played and had 9 sacks his rookie year, crocker was better than Iloka in 12, Iloka and Nelson were better than Williams, Binns over Sanu and Jones point you, Clint started at RG and sucked his first year, Leon Hall was better than Dennard, and MJ wasn't ready yet his rookie year. 

(12-17-2017, 12:13 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Responding to a disappointing season by putting players who weren't ready on the field for the hell of it is more of a Browns move than a Bengals one.

(12-18-2017, 10:47 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: For the hell of it?  How many times do we come in to a season and have our fingers crossed that a player "pans out"?  What is to be gained from starting Lafell over guys like Core, Ross, and Malone?

(12-18-2017, 11:01 AM)Nately120 Wrote: Maybe by playing a guy like Lafell over a guy like Ross we send a message that players will earn their playing time based on their productivity, not because they are younger and/or were drafted higher.  We want to establish a winning culture here where coaches hold players accountable, but we also want to see guys like John Ross put on the field over more productive players.

All Ross had to do to get on the field was look better than Brandon Lafell, and he didn't.  So in summation, the value of playing a guy like Lafell over guys like Core, Ross, and Malone is that it should, in theory, send a message to the young guys...something that I'd assume a winner of a HC would want to do.

I'm not Lafell's cousin or anything, but if it's stupid to play him because he's over 30 then we shouldn't have picked him up in the first place.  We should have gone into 2016 with Green and then some sort of amalgamation of Erickson, Kumerow, Wright, Boyd and Core.  Quit getting old washed-up WRs off the scrap-heap if they're going to outplay our young guys.

(12-18-2017, 09:08 PM)SHRacerX Wrote: You lost me at this statement.  Lafell was productive with AJ Green on the other side of the field and Joe Mixon in the backfield?   No, he wasn't.  Look at his targets vs receptions and he hardly ever got separation in one on one coverage.  People love to kill Dalton for holding the ball too long and then scrambling, but he hardly ever had someone with clear separation.  I counted ONE contested pass for Case Keenum yesterday.  One.  That is not what Dalton got to see when he dropped back in to coverage.  

As far as earning the spot goes, how can you demonstrate superiority in non-contact practices?  Ross should have been getting way more opportunities than he did as should Core and Malone.  I think our next coach will show you that the best play, and the rest sit.  At least I hope that is what happens. 

(12-18-2017, 09:24 PM)Nately120 Wrote: We can agree to disagree on this one.  For John Ross' sake and the sake if our team I sincerely hope he decides to play it safe and work harder next year. 

(12-18-2017, 09:34 PM)McC Wrote: How does anyone know he wasn't working hard this year?  It's been like a state secret and that has led to rampant guessing.

(12-18-2017, 09:43 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: That's kinda been the m.o. of this organization recently.

(12-18-2017, 10:17 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: What reputation?  A lot of golf clap, let's go?  He is a dinosaur, like Lovie Smith and Jeff Fisher that the game passed by years ago, but we kept him around for continuity sake and lost the coaches that actually gave this team a chance (Hue, Zimmer, Gruden, Joseph).  

(12-18-2017, 10:31 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: Leon Hall was absolute toast as a rookie.  Got abused by Braylon Edwards at Cleveland.  Then, he worked through it and a couple years later was one of the best in the league and shut down Edwards.

It is called a learning curve for a reason, but the point so many here seem to miss is that you don't learn by sitting.  The game is the best teacher.  Sometimes, you have to take your lumps and learn from it.  Here, you sit and when you finally get a shot, you are expected to not make any mistakes.  Makes zero sense. 

(12-18-2017, 11:10 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Unlike Lovie Smith and Jeff Fisher, Marvin has never won a playoff game. At least Lovie and Jeff took their teams to the SB once while they stewed in their mediocrity.

Interesting that once the Bengals finish losing out (we all know they will) Marvin will finish 2 games over .500 for his career. The same number as Lovie Smith, just minus the 3 postseason wins and 1 AFC Championship.


Braylon Edwards abused a LOT of people that year. 80 catches, almost 1,300 yards (back when that was still a ton), 16 TDs. He was a 2nd Team All-Pro.

The Browns were actually 10-6 that year. That was the year Kellen Winslow was a Pro Bowler, too.