MJ injury opens door for Hardison

[Benton]

(08-10-2015, 12:36 PM)SHRacerX Wrote: I'm surprised to hear this. 

The Bengals brought back Pat Sims and MJ.  Both are at least what you would call "upper half" of the league in terms of talent. 

They have Geno, Peko, Brandon Thompson, Still, and now Hardison working at DT.  Thompson has been solid, ditto Peko, and both are better when used on a rotational basis.  Still might be what they hoped for years ago when they took him in the second round now that his mind is clear. 

They have Hunt, Clarke, and Gilberry to rotate in behind Dunlap and the aforementioned MJ at DE.  Gilberry has proven to be very effective when used on a rotational basis and Hunt/Clark have flashed in their brief stints on the field.

Aside from the return of the "rotation" (raise your hands if you saw the Dline fading as the season progressed), which is CRITICAL to the team's success, the biggest thing I like about this squad is there is only one rookie.  Geno, Peko, Sims, Dunlap, MJ, Gilberry, and Thompson all have real game experience.  Hunt and Clark are somewhat inexperienced, but they have made it through a season and both have worked tirelessly to improve their strength and conditioning.  Rookies rarely contribute their first season as a DT.  There are exceptions, but I have seen team after team draft a DT early and plug them in only to see them struggle mightily.  I think, aside from QB, that DT might be the toughest transition from college to pro. 

Only Hardison is a rookie, and the Bengals don't need to count on him for really anything this year.  If he gets opportunities and produces, great.  But he is going to be slowly eased in this year. 

To the bold, that's my point. Geno is the only one proven who can provide consistent pressure. If he goes down we're left with Peko (who I think can provide some help, but needs to be in their sparingly now), Thompson (who is good, but not really proven he can play a majority of downs at a high level) and Still (who — through nothing anyone faults him for — hasn't done anything yet).

So, to me, if Geno goes down we're expecting Thompson to provide that kind of production and I don't see it happening. To get any kind of consistent pressure when he's in, I think he'll have to rotate with someone... which is why I hope Hardison is free to use as a DT. Because as much as I like Peko and Still, I don't expect either of them to make much of an impact for us this year.

With the DEs, I feel better about it heading into this season than last. MJ, Dunlap and Gilberry makes me happy. I'm hopeful Clarke develops. Hunt is taking up a spot, but somebody somewhere is trying really hard to make that one work, so we're stuck with a wasted roster spot for another season. But even with them, I dunno if Gilberry and Clarke are enough to step up for a majority of the season if there's an injury. And Hunt I guess could try out at TE. Or something.