NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal loves our off season..

[*SHRacerX*]

(03-18-2019, 04:56 PM)McC Wrote: None of those contracts are high.  Look around the league.  And if he ends up being wrong, what are the chances he owns it?  Right between slim and none.

Exactly.  And people need to stop making Hart out to be Ced Ogbuehi.  He isn't.  He isn't a Pro Bowl talent, either, but at 24 years of age (he turns 25 at the beginning of the season) and the way the team was able to run the ball behind him and Redmond gives me a lot more optimism than the revolving door as he is being described.

Regardless, a lot of other teams have "won the offseason" (See Browns, Cleveland) and that is great, but not one of their moves counts as a win during the season.  If for no other reason, I am intrigued by this team because they FINALLY have a younger, more innovative coaching staff.  I love Marv for what he did here, but his time here should have ended a long time ago.  I have long argued that we had the talent but the coaches handcuff the team with their predictable, conservative nature.  They were also, well, boring to watch.  An offense that rarely took shots down the field and a defense that played off zone coverage that gave up easy plays underneath all day long (at least until a long overdue change in scheme at the end of the year, when the season was over).

We should be used to the talking heads taking shots at the Bengals, and yes, they have now strung together three straight below .500 seasons so the "we made the playoffs five straight years" narrative is done.  What have they done for us lately?  Nothing.  However, they have a strong roster with a few key holes:  LB (would be a lot different if Tez was still playing like his prime) and DT (need someone to step up next to Geno or draft Dexter Lawrence).  The offensive line isn't great, but I don't see it as the disaster most are making it out to be.  Those two issues on the defense can and should be addressed and this team can be right back in the thick of things.