How Many Are Content With Bengals LBs As Is Going Into Draft

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(04-24-2017, 11:42 AM)kevin Wrote: At Pick 9 and again at pick 41 there is going to be amazing talent at LB.  If we are going on the Paul Brown Best Available Athlete it's hard not to look at the linebackers early in one or two that are way above most draft years.  That All American high school star from Florida that Urban Meyer recruited for Ohio State would normally be a first round but in this draft year of linebackers he may be there at pick 41.  This is a good draft year for linebackers.  I use to be higher on Rey until he was given more to do.  Everybody complained about draft Virgil and I don't see what he has done to instill so much confidence in last years losing season.  I am not that high on Rey and Virgil.  How good is Minter, we don't know yet. Burfict is good when he plays but I have to question his team captain leadership abilities because sometimes teams can goat him into a total lack of focus, such as Steelers.  Many on here are talking of playing in 4-2 packages with only a front 6 and not a front 7.  So you are thinking in terms of 2 linebackers and the rest as bench players.  So we are ruling out ever having and 3-4 packages.  We are ruling out ever having any 4-3 packages.  You are saying the new NFL is the 4-2.  Funny, I see winning teams playing 3-4 or at least 4-3.  On offense I see teams running the ball.  I do not see a pass only NFL. I see teams running the ball.  OK, Patriots with Brady mostly passed last year. When he retires I look for them to run more as they use to.  Cowboys certainly ran it up our rear ends all game. Steelers ran it up our rear ends all game.  Steelers have that stable of good running backs. If we are in a 4-2 we are going to get bulldozed over.  I have seen too many games where good teams such as Steelers or Patriots have just ran the ball on our Bengals the entire 4th quarter as they eat clock and win the game. As good as our D Line is the good teams have good O Lines when the ball is snapped. As the good teams runners crash behind their good O Lines it is key that we have the linebackers to make a stop and get the ball back.  We play the Steelers twice a year and they can flat out run the football so how do we intend to stop it.  Ravens also run and look for Cleveland to try to develop a running game which Cleveland for decades was known for. If it's true in the AFC North you need good running backs, then it is true in the AFC North you better have front 7 to stop the run. Not a front 6 but a front 7.  

I can't believe so many are talking in terms of Bengals playing a front 6.  Most teams play a front 7 in either a 3-4 which we went to 2 Super Bowls with, or a 4-3 which Marvin Lewis coached with Ravens. Marvin Lewis Ravens 4-3 had a good D line, but it had 3 Pro Bowl linebackers.  I don't see the Bengals winning many games in a 4-2-5 and never a play-off win.  Never a play-off win because teams good enough to make play-offs will destroy a 4-2-5 with their top O Lines and top running backs.  We will watch the other team run the ball up our rear ends all game, which we have seen in many play-off games.  Steelers, Jets, Texans, Chargers. Colts.   If it really was a touch football NFL of all passing I would agree with only needing 2 starting linebackers.  I see an NFL that has brought back tight ends and is bringing back fullbacks and is running the ball.  I see an NFL that tried the no tight end and no fullback all WR formations and saw it doesn't win.  An NFL that has went back to the run game in a huge way and 2 linebackers just won't be enough.  In fact Steelers still play a 3-4. A lot of team use a 3-4 and these teams win. Bengals are the team that has gone 26 years without a play-off win.  

The 4-2 sounds weak to me.  Way too weak.  We do not have the linebackers to play a 4-3 and certainly don't have the linebackers for any 3-4 packages to use now and then.  The 4-2 sounds too Bengals of 26 years with no play-off wins. Steelers are going to have linebackers. Ravens are going to have linebackers. Even Browns are going to try to have linebackers.  All these teams are going to try to run the ball up our rear ends. Seems to me Burfict and Minter are NOT enough. Not in the AFC North.  This years draft is loaded in linebacker talent in first 2 rounds which is rare.  This is the year for Bengals to get a team captain linebacker over the next 10 years and man up with the teams in big boy pants which we have not done in 26 years.  We have Atkins and Dunlap and a good secondary but our linebackers are not that good.  I can see taking a D Lineman in round one if that is best athlete on the board, and at pick 9 there may be a D Lineman that falls due to a team taking a QB, and a top D Lineman falls to us, I can see that.  At least at the top of round 2 dip into this very talented pool of linebackers in this draft. They are there and I'm saying a 4-2 is not enough, not even close to enough to win in the AFC North.  Bill Bergey was a round 2.  There is amazing talent probably at the top of this years round 2.  If not in one, at least in two.  Those wanting all offense, remember fans may like offense, but you win with defense. If the Ohio State LB or JJ Watts talented linebacker brother are there in round 2 with other rare talent LBs, the cupboard is full of LB talent this draft unlike last few years drafts of few top LBs. Our Defense has slipped a little and was not as good last year as it has been.  Lets say we take a D Lineman in one and a LB in two, or vise versa, you add those top picks to Atkins, Dunlap and our secondary and our defense should be back to play-off form with the goal to have a Super Bowl Defense.

You use the Steelers running the ball the entire 4th quarter, as an example, but neglected to point out that in our last meeting, the Bengals' offense got stonewalled the entire 2nd half, which led to the D getting gassed and allowed the Steelers to ram the ball down their throats.  If the offense could have sustained some drives and the D could have caught their breath, things probably would have been different.  This is one of the big reasons people want to fix the offense.  The other is we're sick and tired of the D playing good enough to win in the playoffs while the offense shxts the bed

The reason we play nickel so much is because we have to match up with 3 WR sets.  Offensive personel dictates the defensive personel, and in today's NFL, the #3 WR and CB are effectively starters.

This is why DL and secondary are higher priorities.  You can't scheme DL off the field, and the only time a DB is coming off the field for a LB is against short yardage/goalline sets.