The O-line is not a concern...

[Shake n Blake]

(03-01-2017, 06:51 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: Paul seems very confident that Whit returns. Hope he's right.

Andrew Whitworth will be back with the Bengals. Mark it. I don’t need any more Bengals folks to make impassioned pleas to know it gets done.

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) March 1, 2017

Very encouraging.

(03-01-2017, 07:22 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: Tobin talks about Ogbuehi and the O-line

“I think Cedric is still a tremendous prospect – I really do,” said Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine. “He hasn’t had a (healthy) offseason, so it will be good to get him one. The injury thing has been real with him and it has hurt Fish too on the other side. It will be good to get them a full offseason of work and development and maybe at a position to focus on. But I think Cedric is a marvelously talented young man. I think he’s made of the right stuff to work at it, and I’m bullish on him and his ability to play. I really am.”

“Everybody employs different techniques, and I think it is incumbent upon us to look at the players that we have and use the techniques that they’re able to use and to maximize each player in the way that they can be maximized,” said Tobin. “But it’s also incumbent on the player to develop the traits to fit in to what we do. It’s a two-way street. Does Cedric need strength development? Sure he did. So did Fish. All young tackles do. Does he need technique work? Sure he does. So does Fish. I think Paul will do a great job of getting him up to speed and finding the things that he does well, and finding the things he struggles with and trying to build on those.”

“Whit encompasses everything you want when you pull a guy off a draft board from a scouting perspective,” Tobin said. “When you pull the name off the draft board and turn it in, you want him to be Andrew Whitworth ten years from now. On your team…multiple contracts…starter…Pro Bowl player…leader of everybody…and I can throw (Domata) Peko in that mix too. When you’re sitting in a film room thinking about how good this guy could be, those guys encompass exactly what you want. Would I be upset if Whit came back? Hell no. The more good players you can have the better.”

“I think we’ve got some young guys that are looking for the opportunity,” said Tobin. “(Christian) Westerman is a guy that’s used to playing and played a lot in college. He’s also a guy that we didn’t get much opportunity for this year so he’s going to be coming back kind of as a rookie too. But I don’t think the game is too big for him. We have other young guys like (T.J.) Johnson and (Trey) Hopkins. (Alex) Redmond is another guy with great physical traits. So it would be a competition if it’s an open spot. And there might be a player to be named later if there’s an open spot. We’ll see.”  

Tobin has to say that. He's basically the GM and the guy recommending players. I hope there are people within the organization who are less confident in Ogbuehi. The guy was a train wreck. He's going to have to add a ton of muscle. I'm unsure he can do that, and I'm not sure he'll be good even with added muscle. I swear, sometimes it seems the egos of NFL coaches and personnel guys makes them stick with bad choices for far longer than they should. Ogbuehi should have to earn his way back on to the field. After what we saw last year, nothing should be given to him.