04-18-2017, 05:40 PM
(04-18-2017, 04:40 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Absolutely, at least to begin the season. I'm not saying that he wouldn't get reps somewhere in every game, from day one. Just saying that the Bengals like to work rookies in gradually.
My main point of the post was to show that with a big turnover on the OL, they're likely going to want to keep as much of the offense as consistent as possible. We're going to have two, really three new faces on the OL. Sure, we're all familiar with Andre Smith, but we all used to carp and complain about him, as well. He'll be in a position that he hasn't played since his Freshman year of HS. Sure, I expect him to pick it up quick, but there will be some adjustment and transition. As for the Tackles... We've all been reading about how hard Cedric Ogbuehi has been working this offseason, complete with Hobson articles with comforting quotes to ease our troubled minds into forgetting what we all saw out of him on the field last season. Same goes with Fisher, not completely sold on him yet, either.
Of all the skill positions, I'm worried about RB the most right now. Sure, J Hill says that he's abandoning what he had been doing, because it wasn't working. But c'mon, how in the heck does a guy that excels at being a straight ahead runner ever get away from what he's always been good at? I'm confident that Gio Bernard will come back from his ACL as best he can, but there are no guarantees. At least with Burkhead on the roster, we had a dynamic, all-purpose back that could run, block, and catch. As time goes by, I'm seeing Cook or Fournette being less and less of a possibility to be available, let alone taken by the Bengals in the 1st round. Hopefully they can land Kamara, or forgive me for saying this, Mixon in the 2nd.
So, yeah, I'm a bit concerned about the prospects for offensive production in at least the first part of the season.
I can understand all of this, i just think that if we do draft OJ Howard at 9 we will have to use him and i doubt
Uzi would start over him. Howard is already a fantastic blocker and Uzi struggles there at times. I said it in
another thread that it will be telling whoever we take in the first.
If it is a RB, it shows the coaches are not sold on our guys for the obvious reasons we speak of.
If it is a WR it will be to complement AJ through either size or speed depending on if it is Mike Williams or John
Ross. If is a DE i just hope we don't reach for Taco Charlton cause he is big and fits what we have done in the
past. If it is a LB i am hoping it is one that can cover and rush the passer like Hassan Reddick.
