Am I Unrealistically Excited?!

[Essex Johnson]

(06-11-2024, 05:31 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I'm usually an optimistic, but realistic, fan of this team.

I'm always hoping and cheering but I've never been this optimistic for the team.

My main reason for such high optimism this season is Joe Burrow, but more specifically the offensive line, because he led us to the Super Bowl and AFC Championship Game with a shitty offensive line, which now rankings have our line in the top ten or top fifteen. Karras might be a weak spot but I'd rather the weak spot be one at center than our tackles where speed rushers can get to Burrow. I'm excited for Cappa and Brown.

Burrow has had injuries, but he appears to be healthy, so won't he rip the league apart?

At running back, we had Mixon and Perine and it wasn't too impressive. Now, we have Moss and Brown, which I've said a lot that I think Brown's underrated and Moss is also better than he's given credit for.

At receiver, we might not be as good, but we still have Chase and Higgins (hopefully), and teams will have to sell-out to stop Chase, especially with the line giving Burrow time to throw, so any receiver will be able to produce with less coverage and a better running game. I've also voiced my optimism about Burton.

Gesicki and Hurst might be a wash, but I like that Gesicki's 6'6 and I think Burrow will look for him a lot in the red zone and on third downs.

On the defensive line, we have Hubbard and Hendrickson at ends, with Sample, Murphy and Ossai backing them up, which is pretty much the same.

At tackle, we did have Reader, Hill, and Carter, and now we have Rankins, Hill, Jenkins, and Carter, so I feel like that's an improvement.

At backer, we're pretty much the same (I think?).

At corner, we had Apple, Awuzie, Hilton, and Flowers, and now we have CTB, Turner, and Hilton, and I think Dax could be taking over the slot position, which I like, so I feel like that's also a wash.

At safety, we had Bell, Bates, Thomas, and Dax, and now we have Bell, Stone, and Battle, so I feel like that's a wash.

The only position I think that we might be weaker is receiver, but Burrow can make anyone look good, especially with Chase out there, and we improved GREATLY on the position group that kept us from winning the title in our first two playoff runs, the offensive line, so am I wrong for being this optimistic?

What am I missing? Why are people in the football world not higher on us?

Not sure how you are saying not high on bengals, we are mentioned as top tier in afc, other teams also have alot of positives, the team I think that moved the bar most in AFC is Houston,