01-27-2019, 10:16 PM
(01-19-2019, 04:43 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Before we start talking about "upgrading" we need to address "replacing". Right now the following positions are missing the starter from 2018.
OFFENSE
RT...Hart is a free agent (as are Fisher, Smith, and Ogbuehi)
RG...Redmond is free agent (as is Trey Hopkins)
TE...Eifert, Uzomah, and Kroft are all free agents.
DEFENSE
LB...Preston Brown is a free agent.
CB...Dennard is a free agent (nickel corner usually plays twice as many snaps as one of the starting LBs in a 4-3)
DE...Michael Johnson is a free agent.
Possible new starters already here....Hubbard should step in for Johnson. Some people think Westerman can start at OG, but I have yet to be convinced.
Possible free agents re-signed.....I think we will re-sign Dennard. Some of the others may be re-signed, but none of them look especially worthy of starting. The only exception is Preston Brown. I wonder if he just struggled due to his injury early in the season?
So ther than Hubbard and Dennard that leaves 4 holes with no returning starter. You can't bet on more than one or two starters from the draft. So we pretty much have to sign 2 or 3 starters in free agency.
People talk a lot about drafting a TE in case Eifert doesn't return or finally fails to pan out. Iowa's Noah Fant is a name thrown around quite a bit, and understandably so (he wasn't really used to his potential in college, IMO). But as a Hawkeye guy, I think Iowa's "other" TE, TJ Hockenson, is actually a better player at that position. Think George Kittle. Additionally, Fant could line up as a mismatch wideout in the slot, which he did some at Iowa. I wouldn't be at all surprised if he was drafted by someone with that in mind. Imagine Hockenson, Fant, and a healthy Eifert in this offense.
That said, the Bengals should get the RT and LB situations worked out in the first two rounds.
