08-05-2025, 05:21 PM
A few thoughts:
Starting in 2023, cutdowns went from a succession of cut deadlines to what we have now, a cut from 90 to 53 on one day with the opening game 9 days later. IMO this doesn't help evaluation; most teams spend their time evaluating the bottom of the roster rather than giving the 1st and key 2nd string time to gel. The sheer number of preseason team leaders who end up getting cut is a clear sign that teams aren't using preseason to get ready for the real season.
If teams don't play players due to the risk of injury at the cost of losing games early in the season, the teams and therefore the league are admitting the point that the season is too long. When a team doesn't play any of their starters for a full preseason game, they didn't need the game.
The NFL is full of players with chronic injuries who rarely finish the season. IMO both the Bengals OTs fit this description. When this has occurred in the past, it has helped to destroy our season. Yet the idea that two starters both who were scored below 60 by pff don't need the snaps is stupid. It's a damned if we do, damned if we don't situation. And it was created by whoever developed the roster.
I'd like to see the 1st team out there for at least a quarter every preseason game. If we want to start fast we need to see if they can start fast. We need to find a good rotation on the DLine. We need to play with multiple DB groupings. The longsnapper, punter, and kicker need every chance to fix things before their mistakes cost us games.
Starting in 2023, cutdowns went from a succession of cut deadlines to what we have now, a cut from 90 to 53 on one day with the opening game 9 days later. IMO this doesn't help evaluation; most teams spend their time evaluating the bottom of the roster rather than giving the 1st and key 2nd string time to gel. The sheer number of preseason team leaders who end up getting cut is a clear sign that teams aren't using preseason to get ready for the real season.
If teams don't play players due to the risk of injury at the cost of losing games early in the season, the teams and therefore the league are admitting the point that the season is too long. When a team doesn't play any of their starters for a full preseason game, they didn't need the game.
The NFL is full of players with chronic injuries who rarely finish the season. IMO both the Bengals OTs fit this description. When this has occurred in the past, it has helped to destroy our season. Yet the idea that two starters both who were scored below 60 by pff don't need the snaps is stupid. It's a damned if we do, damned if we don't situation. And it was created by whoever developed the roster.
I'd like to see the 1st team out there for at least a quarter every preseason game. If we want to start fast we need to see if they can start fast. We need to find a good rotation on the DLine. We need to play with multiple DB groupings. The longsnapper, punter, and kicker need every chance to fix things before their mistakes cost us games.
