This week OTAs

[*ochocincos*]

(06-03-2022, 03:21 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Bottom line, they are already working on JoeyB's huge new contract, and have to do something with Higgins soon as well. I wouldn't be looking for bringing in any more WR's (or really any other position other than DT possibly) anytime soon.

Burrow isn't eligible to sign an extension until after this season, right?
I think the team can get away with getting a 1-year stopgap vet for WR4 and draft a WR early next year if they wanted.

[wanga]

Thanks for the OP pally. Exciting times.

Also love the Hurst pickup.

[*pally*]

Mike Thomas will be WR #4. It seemed, even before Tate's injury, that he was in the role already last season. He is the best receiver of the backups we have on the roster. Stanley Morgan continues with his spot play and special teams gunner role. They were just beginning to expand Morgan's role, when he was WR#6, within the offense last year when he got hurt. Morgan's injury led to the role of Thomas on special teams.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(06-03-2022, 07:54 PM)pally Wrote: Mike Thomas will be WR #4.  It seemed, even before Tate's injury, that he was in the role already last season. He is the best receiver of the backups we have on the roster.  Stanley Morgan continues with his spot play and special teams gunner role. They were just beginning to expand Morgan's role, when he was WR#6, within the offense last year when he got hurt.  Morgan's injury led to the role of Thomas on special teams.

Hopefully these guys play more with Burrow in the Offseason and gain chemistry cause that isn't very promising in my eyes.

[Sled21]

(06-03-2022, 04:42 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Burrow isn't eligible to sign an extension until after this season, right?
I think the team can get away with getting a 1-year stopgap vet for WR4 and draft a WR early next year if they wanted.

Gotta put away every penny for what he's going to cost due to some of these insane deals that were signed.

[Whatever]

(06-03-2022, 03:21 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Bottom line, they are already working on JoeyB's huge new contract, and have to do something with Higgins soon as well. I wouldn't be looking for bringing in any more WR's (or really any other position other than DT possibly) anytime soon.

Neither Burrow or Higgins can be extended until next year, though.  They are also $15 mil under the cap and can only rollover $10 mil to next year.  

I'm not really sure why they would be looking at bringing in a DT.  4-3 teams typically keep 4-5 DT's on the roster.  They have Reader, Hill, Tupou, Carter, and Shelvin.  There's no real need at the position group, especially compared to WR.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

While I have never been a fan of Thomas, I do like that the Bengals allow players to grow into their roles. Marvin had a tendency early in his career to turn over the back end of the roster a lot and a lot of guys may have been physical upgrades, but they were behind the guys they replaced in the playbook department. Later in his career was when either he, Tobin or both developed Burkhead, Uzomah and Fejedelem into reliable NFL players and now Thomas and Morgan along with Markus Bailey are benefiting from the team continuing this approach. They are basically saying "We're comfortable with your growth within our system so we're not actively looking to replace you right now."

That has to do wonders for a young players confidence.

[BengalsBong]

(06-01-2022, 03:32 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Well I knew about Karras from when I watched the Pats and he seemed to always play well from what I saw.

Was for him or James Daniels in FA as a Center/Guard that was versatile. 

I actually think we got the better player even if Daniels is younger.

Billy B praise is as high of praise as you can get no question about it.


Not as good of a blocker but what we needed was a RZ threat anyways. I think Hurst could be just what we needed.

Honestly my only complaint is it is only a 1 year deal and we might lose him if he has too big of a year.


Couldn't find a better guy. Ted is a leader, that is what you want at Center, a smart, hardworking leader.


Told yah lol 

If Hurst has a good year here and we offer a decent 2-year deal to him he will stay. He was not happy how he was treated in other places and if he is a fit he will not want to take a chance of messing that up on another team. 

I do not think he hits 80 catches like in your other post though. I expect more downfield throws and less checkdowns so Hurst and our top 3 WR catches will improve. CJ caught 49 last year so 60 to 65 is my best guess. Mixon and Perine catches should dip if the O-line gives time to Burrow.

The only way I see Hurst hitting 80 is if he becomes a mismatch against teams so much he becomes our 3rd best threat.

[*Synric*]

(06-03-2022, 12:23 PM)ochocincos Wrote: You don't need WR4 through WR7 playing a ton of ST snaps.
Auden Tate was on the roster for 4 years and never played more than 43 ST snaps in a season.
Their ST was still covered fine across the roster.


I'm not saying necessarily to get rid of Morgan. It could be Thomas or Irwin instead. They're all basically the same player. ST-only guy.
Depth RBs, TEs, LBs, and DBs can cover most ST roles that a depth WR would.

Auden Tate was also spotty when it came to dressing on game days. Why? He struggled on special teams.

[Sled21]

(06-04-2022, 04:35 AM)Whatever Wrote: Neither Burrow or Higgins can be extended until next year, though.  They are also $15 mil under the cap and can only rollover $10 mil to next year.  

I'm not really sure why they would be looking at bringing in a DT.  4-3 teams typically keep 4-5 DT's on the roster.  They have Reader, Hill, Tupou, Carter, and Shelvin.  There's no real need at the position group, especially compared to WR.

I don't get it either, but it seems every time I hear of them looking at a new player it is a defensive lineman. I still think they may bring Larry O back on a cheap deal knowing he won't really be ready till mid season. 

[fredtoast]

(06-04-2022, 04:35 AM)Whatever Wrote:  They are also $15 mil under the cap and can only rollover $10 mil to next year.  

Why can we only rollover $10 million?

Is that a new rule?

[kalibengal]

(06-04-2022, 04:35 AM)Whatever Wrote: Neither Burrow or Higgins can be extended until next year, though.  They are also $15 mil under the cap and can only rollover $10 mil to next year.  

I'm not really sure why they would be looking at bringing in a DT.  4-3 teams typically keep 4-5 DT's on the roster.  They have Reader, Hill, Tupou, Carter, and Shelvin.  There's no real need at the position group, especially compared to WR.

Until I see what Carter can do....I still see a need for a good FA signing @DT . Hicks signed with Bucs last week, so he is now gone 

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(06-04-2022, 08:22 AM)BengalsBong Wrote: If Hurst has a good year here and we offer a decent 2-year deal to him he will stay. He was not happy how he was treated in other places and if he is a fit he will not want to take a chance of messing that up on another team. 

I do not think he hits 80 catches like in your other post though. I expect more downfield throws and less checkdowns so Hurst and our top 3 WR catches will improve. CJ caught 49 last year so 60 to 65 is my best guess. Mixon and Perine catches should dip if the O-line gives time to Burrow.

The only way I see Hurst hitting 80 is if he becomes a mismatch against teams so much he becomes our 3rd best threat.

Makes sense. Hard to disagree with anything you say here BengalsBong. I can just see Hayden Hurst getting a lot of benefit 
with Chase, Tee and Boyd taking up so much attention. But yeah, 60-65 sounds more realistic. 80 for a TE is a lot of catches.

Also agree that if Hurst has his best season here I think he would like to stay and he would take a manageable extension.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(06-04-2022, 11:27 AM)kalibengal Wrote: Until I see what Carter can do....I still see a need for a good FA signing @DT . Hicks signed with Bucs last week, so he is now gone 

Yes, lots depends on the rookie and how he transitions to 3-tech behind BJ.

[*bengalfan74*]

(06-04-2022, 12:35 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Makes sense. Hard to disagree with anything you say here BengalsBong. I can just see Hayden Hurst getting a lot of benefit 
with Chase, Tee and Boyd taking up so much attention. But yeah, 60-65 sounds more realistic. 80 for a TE is a lot of catches.

Also agree that if Hurst has his best season here I think he would like to stay and he would take a manageable extension.

JB had 366 completions last year which is a bit low for the top level QB's. And with a hopefully much better Oline I could easily see that going up to 400 area.

Chase, Higgins, and Boyd combined caught 222 passes. And again I could see their numbers rising some. Chase had 81 Higgins 74 Boyd 67. Lets say it rises to 250 combined.

That will leave about 150 receptions to spread around between Hurst, Mixon, Evans, and a handful of the others. I'd guess Hurst could come in 50-60 area. But to me it's not so much the quantity it's the Quality. Getting 1st downs, 8-10 TD's and so on.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(06-04-2022, 01:48 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: JB had 366 completions last year which is a bit low for the top level QB's. And with a hopefully much better Oline I could easily see that going up to 400 area.

Chase, Higgins, and Boyd combined caught 222 passes. And again I could see their numbers rising some. Chase had 81 Higgins 74 Boyd 67. Lets say it rises to 250 combined.

That will leave about 150 receptions to spread around between Hurst, Mixon, Evans, and a handful of the others. I'd guess Hurst could come in 50-60 area. But to me it's not so much the quantity it's the Quality. Getting 1st downs, 8-10 TD's and so on.

Oh yeah, nice post BF74. 

Scoring TD's is really what matters and we need to get way better in the RZ in this aspect. Hurst should help. Also health as we 
know will play a part and someone gets injured every year just like everywhere else. Other players will have to step up when this
happens and honestly this is the reason why I am still a bit concerned about the WR's after the big 3. 

I would like a vet that can come in and at least be a little serviceable. A DeDe Westbrook type. Keep Stanley Morgan for his ST's
and overall blocking, damn good blocker is SM. Mike Thomas just isn't the answer in my opinion. Yah never know about our UDFA's
either. I forget the name of the one that was working on Punt Returns but one of these guys might be a factor for us at WR.

[fredtoast]

(06-04-2022, 04:32 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote:  A DeDe Westbrook type. 

Adam Humphries.  320 career receptions.  63 career punt returns.  Not great at anything but good for depth.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(06-04-2022, 05:12 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Adam Humphries.  320 career receptions.  63 career punt returns.  Not great at anything but good for depth.

Sounds good to me. Kind of more of a Slot WR type though, think we need a speedster that can line up on the outside in case
Chase or Higgy go down for any amount of time. We have lots of Slot WR's, Trent Taylor, Trent Irwin, Thomas can all play Slot 
along with our starters in Boyd and Chase. Chase and Tee are our only true outside WR's.

[*pally*]

Of course we could have a hidden gem on the offense all ready to be WR #4

Some people think Ja’Marr is a better WR than me.. but numbers don’t lie https://t.co/cuAB90fjHP

— Trent Taylor (@Trent5Taylor) June 1, 2022

[*SHRacerX*]

(06-03-2022, 09:39 AM)Synric Wrote: 4th Wide Receiver plays special teams. I dont see Will Fuller or Larry Fitzgerald playing teams.

Excellent point.  However, if they have the young guys from the draft active, you can bet almost every single one of them will play special teams.  So you may have one less WR on teams, but you might have a LB (ADG, Bailey) healthy, or a 4th safety like Anderson (special teams demon at Toledo), or even a new, more athletic LS that can help cover teams.

The point is, a weapon like Fuller can help add points without really compromising special teams.