05-03-2021, 01:31 PM
With a couple minor exceptions, I think the roster is pretty much in place for the offseason. There's a few burning issues that will either get quickly resolved or become a disaster.
1. State of the O-line. Did the Bengals do enough in the offseason to protect Burrow and upgrade the running game?
Let's hope so. While they mainly stayed put in free agency, they added bodies in the draft. Rieff replaces Hart, so hopefully that's an upgrade. I'm not a fan of PFF, but last year's overall grades between the 2 weren't that much different. I do think Rieff is a far superior player, so I'm counting on a bounce back year from him. I also feel like we have a decent amount of depth at T in case Jonah continues his trend of missing games. I think we can work Adenji, Johnson, Carman, Rieff and Smith around in some fashion to at least get through a rough patch.
For me, the interior line is still a tad worrisome. We added Carman, Smith and Hill in the draft. Odds are that one of them will turn into a decent NFL starter at some point. That being said, we are in a touchy position if something happens to one of the starters. I'm also a little concerned about the C if Hopkins isn't 100% to start the year. Carman should help in the running game and hopefully Hill is healthy at some point.
The biggest move was adding Pollack and he should amplify everyone's performance on th line.
2. TE. I was a little surprised they didn't address this sooner, but it looks to be the weakest position on the team.
3. Pass Rush. Time will tell if swapping Lawson for Trey was the right move. They added a ton of guys to the line in the draft and it should pay off. Hopefully one of the new guys can help immediately on 3rd downs.
4. Health. I still contend that this team would have been 7-9, 8-8 last year had Burrow not gone down and Waynes, Reader and Uzomah stayed healthy. If this team stays healthy, the sky is the limit.
On to the good.
1. This WR group has the potential to be the best in the league, That's not homerism either. Boyd is already one of the best (if not, the best slots in the game), Higgins showed he can be dangerous on the outside. IF Chase plays to half of his potential this year while learning the ropes, this team is going to be very difficult to match up against.
2. I don't think theres any question that we have our QB for years to come.
3. Pollack
One final comment regarding the draft. While they didn't draft the players that I wanted the most (Sewell, Trey Smith, Creed Humphrey), they did draft all the positions that I wanted them to address (IOL, C, WR, Edge). None of us are professional scouts and I am certainly no guru when it comes to player evaluation. We will look back in 3 years and either say "holy crap, this one put us in the elite range" or "damn, we really missed on some of these guys. Only time will tell.
Either way, I feel like we are finally going into an offseason where we have a decent (not good) starter at every position if they are healthy. There truly aren't any glaring holes and that feels very good.
1. State of the O-line. Did the Bengals do enough in the offseason to protect Burrow and upgrade the running game?
Let's hope so. While they mainly stayed put in free agency, they added bodies in the draft. Rieff replaces Hart, so hopefully that's an upgrade. I'm not a fan of PFF, but last year's overall grades between the 2 weren't that much different. I do think Rieff is a far superior player, so I'm counting on a bounce back year from him. I also feel like we have a decent amount of depth at T in case Jonah continues his trend of missing games. I think we can work Adenji, Johnson, Carman, Rieff and Smith around in some fashion to at least get through a rough patch.
For me, the interior line is still a tad worrisome. We added Carman, Smith and Hill in the draft. Odds are that one of them will turn into a decent NFL starter at some point. That being said, we are in a touchy position if something happens to one of the starters. I'm also a little concerned about the C if Hopkins isn't 100% to start the year. Carman should help in the running game and hopefully Hill is healthy at some point.
The biggest move was adding Pollack and he should amplify everyone's performance on th line.
2. TE. I was a little surprised they didn't address this sooner, but it looks to be the weakest position on the team.
3. Pass Rush. Time will tell if swapping Lawson for Trey was the right move. They added a ton of guys to the line in the draft and it should pay off. Hopefully one of the new guys can help immediately on 3rd downs.
4. Health. I still contend that this team would have been 7-9, 8-8 last year had Burrow not gone down and Waynes, Reader and Uzomah stayed healthy. If this team stays healthy, the sky is the limit.
On to the good.
1. This WR group has the potential to be the best in the league, That's not homerism either. Boyd is already one of the best (if not, the best slots in the game), Higgins showed he can be dangerous on the outside. IF Chase plays to half of his potential this year while learning the ropes, this team is going to be very difficult to match up against.
2. I don't think theres any question that we have our QB for years to come.
3. Pollack
One final comment regarding the draft. While they didn't draft the players that I wanted the most (Sewell, Trey Smith, Creed Humphrey), they did draft all the positions that I wanted them to address (IOL, C, WR, Edge). None of us are professional scouts and I am certainly no guru when it comes to player evaluation. We will look back in 3 years and either say "holy crap, this one put us in the elite range" or "damn, we really missed on some of these guys. Only time will tell.
Either way, I feel like we are finally going into an offseason where we have a decent (not good) starter at every position if they are healthy. There truly aren't any glaring holes and that feels very good.
