What Is Different and Is It Enough?

[bengalguy71]

Hey folks, I am making a rare cameo appearance, since it's the off season, and since moving from the fourth row 50 yard line to the upper deck!

I'm looking forward to August and seeing how things unfold and will watch, root, and follow, when I can, just doing so without the NFL Ticket.

My question is this;

What, if anything, is different about this year, opposed to any of the other seasons since 2011?

For those that think this year is different that leads to my next question;

With Brown and Lewis still at the helm, will the differences be enough and why?

[*rfaulk34*]

(05-20-2017, 12:33 PM)bengalguy71 Wrote: Hey folks, I am making a rare cameo appearance, since it's the off season, and since moving from the fourth row 50 yard line to the upper deck!

I'm looking forward to August and seeing how things unfold and will watch, root, and follow, when I can, just doing so without the NFL Ticket.

My question is this;

What, if anything, is different about this year, opposed to any of the other seasons since 2011?

For those that think this year is different that leads to my next question;

With Brown and Lewis still at the helm, will the differences be enough and why?

There are differences at the beginning of every year. 

But the result, other than last year (which was worse) is always the same. 

Will the differences be enough this year?  No. 

[*bengalfan74*]

(05-20-2017, 12:38 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: There are differences at the beginning of every year. 

But the result, other than last year (which was worse) is always the same. 

Will the differences be enough this year?  No. 

Agree,

We may or may not (depending on the O-line mostly) have a decent regular season. But I have zero hope of any post season success under team M&M.

[Pat5775]

We won't be doing much as far as the postseason, but I can see us making the playoffs again (hopefully). I love the talent we added at the draft and the dead weight we cut lose... But we completely refused to address an already subpar oline. I believe that will be what kills us this year. Once again I hope I'm wrong, and once again I hope our talent will win us a championship despite our coaching.

[*jason*]

Ah c'mon fellas...

What's new? We have a retooled offensive line featuring a cagey veteran, two high round bookends, and Clint Boling. The fastest man to ever live now plays WR. The Bengals obtained the best RB in the 2017 draft. Vontaze Burfict is in shape, and I'm not talking round. The best CB in last year's draft will make his NFL debut in Cincinnati. The defensive line is gonna have a really good rotation. Tyler Boyd should be improved... Will it be enough? If history is any indication, probably not. It should be fun to watch though.

[grampahol]

Enough for what exactly? 
Playoff win? Perhaps 
Wild card spot? Maybe 
Dead last place?  Mmmmm..could be. 
Super bowl win? Unlikely, but I gave up on being the driving force behind all inaccurate predictions. 
With any luck every other team with any hopes of a winning season will become plagued with illnesses and injuries on an unprecedented scale and the Cincinnati Bengals will be completely spared, but hey, ya never know. 

[guyofthetiger]

I'm not very optimistic about 2017. I feel if we have a good year, we may end up 8-8 just out of the playoffs. We need another year to develop some of our new talent. Look out for 2018.

[The D.O.Z.]

(05-20-2017, 03:03 PM)jason Wrote: Ah c'mon fellas...

What's new? We have a retooled offensive line featuring a cagey veteran, two high round bookends, and Clint Boling. The fastest man to ever live now plays WR. The Bengals obtained the best RB in the 2017 draft. Vontaze Burfict is in shape, and I'm not talking round. The best CB in last year's draft will make his NFL debut in Cincinnati. The defensive line is gonna have a really good rotation. Tyler Boyd should be improved... Will it be enough? If history is any indication, probably not. It should be fun to watch though.

This^^

Look, I know ole MELVIN isn't that good of a HC, and Mikey isn't a very good GM...but they have assembled a very potent roster. Yeah, we lost Whit and Big Z..but hey, that's the business. You can't keep everybody. Plus we drafted two guys you know we were gonna have to play at some point. I think too many people are being negative about the Oline, like the sky is falling and we'll be one of the worst teams in the league next year. Well I beg to differ.

What's changed?

SPEED.

YOUTH.

Now..will those two things alone carry this team? I doubt it. But they sure will help! We won't be seeing Maualuga miss gaps and tackles anymore. No more Peko whiffing on blockers and RB's. No more Nugent missing easy XPs. How many games were lost last year due to ST mishaps? Yeah, I know Ogbuehi had a bad year, and the thought of him protecting Andy's blindside is scarey, but lets see what a full offseason of strength training has done for him before we cast him to the wolves. I'm willing to bet he has a much better year than last year (I mean, he's GOT to...right?!) and I'm willing to bet this defense hits the ground running this year with an in-shape Burfict and a defensive line rotation.


Like Jason said: It will be fun to watch!

[bengalguy71]

My take is that there is a huge difference between hoping and believing.

Every year, I hope this team does well, makes the playoffs, and wins the SB, because I am a fan.

What do I believe about this team this year?  I believe, even if all this talent pans out, even if there are no major lengthy injuries, based upon the history, under MB's reign, this team will shoot itself in the foot, be it management, coaches, players, or all of the above, like it has, every year, for the last 26 years.  Anything beyond that is hope or wishful thinking!!

[*SHRacerX*]

(05-20-2017, 03:03 PM)jason Wrote: Ah c'mon fellas...

What's new? We have a retooled offensive line featuring a cagey veteran, two high round bookends, and Clint Boling. The fastest man to ever live now plays WR. The Bengals obtained the best RB in the 2017 draft. Vontaze Burfict is in shape, and I'm not talking round. The best CB in last year's draft will make his NFL debut in Cincinnati. The defensive line is gonna have a really good rotation. Tyler Boyd should be improved... Will it be enough? If history is any indication, probably not. It should be fun to watch though.

Jason nailed most of it, so I will add just a few points:

-Zampese in Year 2...thus far, every OC we have had was clearly better in year 2
- 4 healthy TEs (one technically an H-back) that are all very good players when healthy and none were last year.
- Pass rush improved tremendously with Willis and Lawson rotating in at RDE
- AJ Green will be back 

[*SHRacerX*]

I am amazed by anyone that thinks this team would be .500 or worse. Sure, you are entitled to your opinion, even if it is blatantly wrong

This team would have won 9 games last year if they had a kicker that could kick extra points and chip shot FGs. That isn't a shot at Nugent, a really, really good dude, but he simply lost it and then Bullock did that same thing against the Texans.

I'm over it, because we got what this team needed most (IMHO) in Ross. The rest of the draft was also outstanding and I have high confidence in the new, younger Bengals.

Think about it. If Elliot kicks remotely like he did in college, which is simply that he almost never missed inside 35 yards, they win 9 games. They did a hell of a lot more than just draft a kicker. Ironically, there is a thread where people are STILL arguing if they took the kicker too early, and he could yield a delta of three games next year. Amazing.

[SunsetBengal]

(05-20-2017, 03:03 PM)jason Wrote: Ah c'mon fellas...

What's new? We have a retooled offensive line featuring a cagey veteran, two high round bookends, and Clint Boling. The fastest man to ever live now plays WR. The Bengals obtained the best RB in the 2017 draft. Vontaze Burfict is in shape, and I'm not talking round. The best CB in last year's draft will make his NFL debut in Cincinnati. The defensive line is gonna have a really good rotation. Tyler Boyd should be improved... Will it be enough? If history is any indication, probably not. It should be fun to watch though.

(05-21-2017, 10:01 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: Jason nailed most of it, so I will add just a few points:

-Zampese in Year 2...thus far, every OC we have had was clearly better in year 2
- 4 healthy TEs (one technically an H-back) that are all very good players when healthy and none were last year.
- Pass rush improved tremendously with Willis and Lawson rotating in at RDE
- AJ Green will be back 

Both of these guys are right, there is much more to be excited about for this team than there is to be pessimistic.  Sure, people can point to the fact that Mike and Marvin are still running the show, that hasn't changed.  To those folks, I'd like to remind them that all of the players are professional athletes, competitive people by nature.  They want to win.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(05-20-2017, 12:33 PM)bengalguy71 Wrote: Hey folks, I am making a rare cameo appearance, since it's the off season, and since moving from the fourth row 50 yard line to the upper deck!

I'm looking forward to August and seeing how things unfold and will watch, root, and follow, when I can, just doing so without the NFL Ticket.

My question is this;

What, if anything, is different about this year, opposed to any of the other seasons since 2011?

For those that think this year is different that leads to my next question;

With Brown and Lewis still at the helm, will the differences be enough and why?

Good thread. Letting Peko and Maualuga go, letting Billings take over as our run stopper and adding Minter were huge for
this Defense. Billings is not just a space eater like Peko, he can rush the passer too and if only one man is blocking him he
will win with his superhuman strength. Billings is also deceptively quick and ran down RB's from behind in college lots of
times. Just hope the injury doesn't linger, luckily he is really young.

Minter can stop the run and is a very good cover Linebacker, major upgrade over Maualuga.

On Defense we needed to add a pass rusher or two and we added Jordan Willis the fastest D-lineman in the draft and Carl
Lawson, probably the most physical pass rusher in the draft. I think atleast one of these guys will be much better than MJ.

We are much younger on Defense than we were last year.

On Offense adding John Ross and Joe Mixon were huge. Ross is a great Redzone receiver which is precisely what we needed
after last year when we were pathetic in the Red zone. Ross has great hands and has a wide route tree and he is extremely
smart. We needed a deep threat besides AJ Green and Core and Ross provides this and much more.

Mixon has the best vision of any RB i have ever seen, better than LeVeon Bell IMHO. Great hands, quicks and balance. Mixon
most likely will make the biggest impact of any rookie this year.

The Offensive Line is where it all hinges, Og and Fisher will get better, Boling should be 100% unlike last year, Andre should
be an upgrade in the run game if he can stay healthy...

Might be enough to carry the ineptitude of Marv and MB actually.

[Shake n Blake]

We improved the skill positions immensely.
The o-line was already bad and got worse.
The head coach and ownership remains the same.
I'd say it all balances out.

:giggle:

[Quantum Bengal]

(05-20-2017, 12:33 PM)bengalguy71 Wrote: Hey folks, I am making a rare cameo appearance, since it's the off season, and since moving from the fourth row 50 yard line to the upper deck!

I'm looking forward to August and seeing how things unfold and will watch, root, and follow, when I can, just doing so without the NFL Ticket.

My question is this;

What, if anything, is different about this year, opposed to any of the other seasons since 2011?

For those that think this year is different that leads to my next question;

With Brown and Lewis still at the helm, will the differences be enough and why?

Every year is a fresh start.  Will it be enough, who knows.  I do know I never thought the Falcons would be in the SB this year.  We have a chance at being that surprise team.  I tend to lean on the positive, but it CAN be enough (can and will are very different words)

[*ochocincos*]

2017 has one glaring weakness - offensive line. The team will succeed or fail based on this position's performance.
However, not all hope is lost even if the offensive line is a sieve and the Bengals don't have a great season.

The reason I say this is because with OL being the only glaring weakness right now, it should become obvious that OL should be the top selection(s) in next year's draft based on performance. If just one of Ogbuehi, Fisher, or Bodine really steps his game up in 2017 to become a good starter, that will just reduce the amount of OL needed to be selected in the draft.
The Bengals should have their offensive weapons set for 2018 especially if Eifert re-signs or is tagged. They have their QB.
On defense, they addressed the DL needs in the draft and picked up what should be a good MIKE in Minter. LB will become a need early in the draft if Bufict and/or Minter leave in FA. The DBs should also be set with all the first-round picks the Bengals have made at CB and the starting safeties signed through 2020.

[3wt]

The only place that we went backwards was the offensive line.   I personally would have kept both Whit and Z.   Z was playing lights out at the end of the season and Whit was a top 5 guy.

If we just keep Whit I would say we have VERY significant improvement from last year.  As it is I think we have good improvement:

• Improved pass rush - Willis and Lawson will make a significant difference when we have to rush the passer.
• Improved LB squad - not the least of which is Burfict showing up in great shape - but also both a reliable middle LB and better overall pass coverage.  And if you count Lawson as a LB the ability to blitz from the LB squad is dramatically improved
• Potentially improved ability to stuff the run when it counts
• Improved 3 down big back who is a bona fide playmaker
• Improved speed at WR - and depth with speed for the position
• More speed on STs
• More reliable kicking game - whichever kicker makes the team
  

So all in all I would say we are improved.   But without Whit we have a significant hole in our offense.   Not sure we can overcome it against any contender.

[Millhouse]

Will a couple or so unproven rookies and Minter make the difference? All the while losing Whitworth and Zeitler? I dont know, but not holding my breath.

But more importantly, will the culture surrounding this team in terms of aiming for winning in the playoffs and making a Super Bowl change? Definitely not holding my breath on this one.

I will say this with all certainty though, they wont be any worse than last season.

[*rfaulk34*]

(05-21-2017, 10:12 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Both of these guys are right, there is much more to be excited about for this team than there is to be pessimistic.  Sure, people can point to the fact that Mike and Marvin are still running the show, that hasn't changed.  To those folks, I'd like to remind them that all of the players are professional athletes, competitive people by nature.  They want to win.

You're right about the "excitement". There's always hope with the unknown, i just don't know if people don't realize the excitement comes from the unknown or they just don't care. 

All i'm saying is...every year that excitement is there because if the new unknown. So far, with all that old new excitement, the Bengals remained stuck on the incline of the hill with no ability to accelerate up to now.

[OBX Bengal]

We lost a couple of good coaches in 2016 (Joseph and Jackson) and we had seven coaches in new positions including offensive coordinator.  These guys now have a full year’s experience working together, which I expect will be an improvement.