01-03-2025, 09:37 PM
(01-03-2025, 09:22 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Interesting that you bring up Geno Atkins, he was a bonafide superstar. One has to wonder if he was really washed, or just felt used up when he went down the tubes? He played the bulk of his career in optimistic times with the Bengals, as the Marvin Lewis era began to fade so did he. I can't blame the team for clinging to him, as that was the last move of desperation before the coaching change. Perhaps Geno just decided that he had enough to retire on and checked out?
I don't see a similar team overhaul in the works this year or next. BJ Hill has no reason to take the money and dump, as when I watch him he is still as competitive and pursues at full speed better than some younger players. As I said earlier, he's durable and dependable, and his production is pretty darn consistent.
I don't think his shoulder healed right after they had him (ineffectively) play through it rather than go ahead and immediately get surgery to fix it. (Something we've continued to see happen since then with Hubbard, Wilson, etc.)
I also wonder how much of it was not getting along with Lou/the Dunlap situation. With Dunlap being put behind Khalid Kareem and Amani Bledsoe on the depth chart and him finding out about it from a blackboard rather than being talked to. Makes me wonder if Atkins just didn't want to try to come back after 2020, and was content to just Irish Goodbye the NFL (which is peak Geno).
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