IMPORTANT BENGALS NAMES COME END OF SUMMER

[BFritz21]

(05-16-2017, 06:23 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: A great deal of stress was present in previous seasons where there were changes to the offensive line and the Bengals responded with some of their best rushing attacks in their recent history.

Consider it position by position:  Where are they not as good as last year?  That's easy...LT.  Whit, at 137 years old, would probably be better than Ced.  However, the rest of the line is not the same story:

LG:  Boling played with an injured shoulder for almost all of last season before shutting it down in week 17.  He will be 100% healthy and much more effective than when he was playing through the injury.

C:  Boding was not a Pro Bowl caliber player, but the needle continued to point up as he had his best season.  There is no reason not to expect him to be even better this year in his contract season.

RG:  Although everyone assumes this will be Andre Smith, I wouldn't be surprised to see Alex Redmond win the job.  The club feels very good about him.  Zeitler was not the Hall of Famer some would lead you to believe.  He certainly wasn't worth the ridiculous $12 million per year that Cleveland paid him.  This position could actually be better in the rushing attack.

RT:  Fisher bounced around before landing at RT and settling in nicely.  I like his attitude as well.  Tough guy, wants to win.  I think he will become a very valued piece of this line as time goes on...He certainly was better than an injured Ced was in the first part of the season.  He will be even better next year, now that he can prepare for the RT spot.

So, LT is a concern.  At some point, we have to sink or swim at LT with Ced.  Maybe he, like many others before him, surprises and has a solid season.  If he doesn't, we will see a lot of TE help on his side, or eventually Fisher moves to LT and Smith fills in at RT.

Either way, I don't see it as the five position disaster some would have us believe.  It is also naive to not understand that the mere presence of Ross opposite AJ changes the way defenses will stack the box against the Bengals.

I've been worried about the season because of the offensive line, but this does help me be a bit less worried.

I think, as you mentioned with some of the players being full-time at one position, consistency is big for the line and they can be successful if they block as a unit.

I think having Mixon will also help our line as long as he doesn't get all tip-toey behind the line like Hill was last season (and even some in 2015).  Mixon has been known to dance a little before he sees an opening and then goes hard, so hopefully he can be coached to just hit the line hard all the time and find his holes as he's going downhill.

If Mixon can hit the holes hard and gain chunks of yards, and even break a few big runs, it will do lots of good in keeping the pass rush at ease, which could be important with this line, regardless of how promising your evaluation looks.

(05-16-2017, 12:52 PM)BengalD Wrote: Given expected injuries and all the other camp and pre-season drama, I kind of believe 1 or possibly 2 O-line starters are not even on this team yet.  They will pick up somebody else's leftovers that didn't make their team.  Saw the phrase "coach them up" several times.  It's either the players or the coaches or maybe some of each but seems like they never hit the exact formula.  I find it just amazing that beliychick picks up the street free agents (at various positions) halfway through the season and they start and go to superbowls - I'm thinking it's the coaching!

That's what I'm hoping for because sometimes very good players are cut for younger models, even if they're not as good as the older players, or strictly for financial reasons.

Here's to hoping a quality starter falls into our lap 

(05-16-2017, 11:56 PM)J24 Wrote: Kevin is a 100% right not sure why people fine this thread so unreasonable. There is some truth that the offensive weapons will take pressure  off the O line. With that being said when push comes to shove the o line will have to hold up and block a lot better if this team wants to be contenders. There is only so much the vertical threats can cover up.

I agree but I think the Mixon will force other teams to have to load the box, which then Ross and AJ can get open quickly and Andy won't need a whole lot of time (I only picked those two because, if both safeties aren't near the line, one or both can go deep and Andy can just throw a deep ball.

(05-17-2017, 04:23 AM)BonnieBengal Wrote: He's right that we need a solid O line, but as soon as I saw that "B" word, I stopped reading.  He lost all credibility with me.  If he wants to post that crap, he needs to get out of Jungle Noise.  Jungle Noise is for Bengal fans.

I agree that the name is disgraceful and never should be used in reference to the current Bengals, but it's common here in Cinci, especially when referring to the 90s, which were shameful (for the most part). 

(05-18-2017, 12:04 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: I agree, but at the same time writing this line off as worse than last year has no merit yet either.

I am just speaking about the positives, you go ahead and speak of the negatives. You are right, time will tell.

But lots always thought Andre Smith would make a better Guard than Tackle, this is nothing new.

Og and Fish WILL improve. This is a given, they cannot get worse lol

Boling is 100% unlike last year.

These things need to be taken into consideration.

Like I said, the line was so bad last year that it had me freaking, but pausing and looking at it objectively makes it much-less worrisome.

Also as mentioned above, I think Mixon's running can make the line's job MUCH easier.