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(09-05-2017, 01:22 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Us drafting well has been stretched quite a bit IMHO, as has resigning our own ! It sounds good to throw out there as more or less an excuse. But is it really happening ?
And the window for success is small by any measure. Many things factor in but by and large it's not very long. Knowing when and on whom to spend in FA is quite often one of the final keys to success.
The whole building for the future narrative that's been thrown around here in the past is more fantasy than not.
We had a nice run of good drafts, but they have been a little dry lately.
It's been a little while since I've been this excited about a draft class.
We got a bunch of first round talent - Ross, Mixon, Willis and Lawson. All of those guys were mentioned as serious 1st round talents at some point during the draft process. Now.......
If they can only play to their potential. If so, we have solved a ton of issues with this team.
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Over the past 2 years we've lost Whitworth, Zeitler, Peko, Nelson, Sanu, Jones, and Leon Hall. They also lost guys like Burkhead.
Zeitler, Whitworth, and Nelson were replaced with lesser players. It remains to be seen on Peko.
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(09-05-2017, 01:27 PM)Hammerstripes Wrote: We had a nice run of good drafts, but they have been a little dry lately.
It's been a little while since I've been this excited about a draft class.
We got a bunch of first round talent - Ross, Mixon, Willis and Lawson. All of those guys were mentioned as serious 1st round talents at some point during the draft process. Now.......
If they can only play to their potential. If so, we have solved a ton of issues with this team.
I do like this draft. I feel like Lawson could end up being the best player in this class. Mixon has potential too.
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(09-05-2017, 01:22 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Us drafting well has been stretched quite a bit IMHO, as has resigning our own ! It sounds good to throw out there as more or less an excuse. But is it really happening ?
And the window for success is small by any measure. Many things factor in but by and large it's not very long. Knowing when and on whom to spend in FA is quite often one of the final keys to success.
The whole building for the future narrative that's been thrown around here in the past is more fantasy than not.
I think "draft well and sign your own" is the credo of every single team in the NFL. No team says to themselves "gee, we're going to ignore the draft, let our own good players walk, and constantly blow big wads of cash on free agents". People erroneously associate free agency with losers because losers will always spend more. Why? Because they typically have no good players of their own to worry about, hence more cash to throw around at free agents.
So it isn't that using free agency leads to losing, it's that losing leads to spending in free agency to try and bridge the gap. Free agency is rarely ever a quick fix for a terrible team. 2-3 players aren't going to turn around a franchise in disarray. That said, plugging a very good player into a weakness on a contending team can often be the difference. All teams try to build through the draft though.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
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(09-05-2017, 01:01 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: In short: I'm happy with less, and think everyone else should be as well.
Sure everyone else should be happy; unfortunately, I cannot mandate it. Folks have a right to be unhappy; it just sucks.
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(09-02-2017, 02:40 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Great point!
Someone else posted a complete list of our Comp picks under Lewis. It's a pretty pathetic list.
Lose a Pro Bowl caliber player...replace him with a backup.
Nelson was a case of let them go a Year too early instead of a year to late...
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(09-02-2017, 02:42 PM)Pat5775 Wrote: Is that Lewis or Tobin's fault? Or I guess it's both...
You don't need to look past the owner Mike Brown to know where push for comp picks comes from.
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(09-03-2017, 09:27 AM)Nately120 Wrote: I think the issue is more about us winning 6 games and letting players walk and doing little/nothing in free agency while the two teams that played in the AFC Championship game spent the off-season making some pretty big moves to improve their team. It's like the Bengals, Steelers, and Patriots are all vying for the same hot girl and they are working out and learning to play sweet electric guitar to impress her and we are sitting in our mom's basement watching Battlestar Galactica reruns and eating hot pockets and waiting for her to come to her senses and pick us because we are a nice guy.
Well you know, if all she cares about is like working out and guitar, maybe it's just not a good fit. We needs a girl who is into Battlestar Galactica and hanging out in basements.
Don't worry, it will all work out! (Did I do the optimism thing right?)
Zac Taylor 2019-2020: 6 total wins
Zac Taylor 2021-2022: Double-digit wins each season, plus 5 postseason wins
Zac Taylor 2023: 9 wins despite losing Burrow half the season
Zac Taylor 2024: Started 1-4. If he can turn this into a playoff appearance, it will be impressive.
Sorry for Party Rocking!
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Just think how much different the prognosis would be had we done the intelligent thing and tagged either Whit or Zeitler? Yes it's a big payout but only for one year and then we are not in a full out OL meltdown like we are now.
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(09-05-2017, 02:35 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Sure everyone else should be happy; unfortunately, I cannot mandate it. Folks have a right to be unhappy; it just sucks.
My attitude towards the team reflects the reality of the team. I'm not so sensitive that I need to pretend everything is ok with a football team in order to be happy in life. Life is good. My kids live a good life. I just bought a Wrangler. My Wife is amazing. The Bengals could improve.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
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(09-03-2017, 09:27 AM)Nately120 Wrote: I think the issue is more about us winning 6 games and letting players walk and doing little/nothing in free agency while the two teams that played in the AFC Championship game spent the off-season making some pretty big moves to improve their team. It's like the Bengals, Steelers, and Patriots are all vying for the same hot girl and they are working out and learning to play sweet electric guitar to impress her and we are sitting in our mom's basement watching Battlestar Galactica reruns and eating hot pockets and waiting for her to come to her senses and pick us because we are a nice guy.
Mmm, hot pockets.
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Oh C'mon! Give the PR department a break. It's not as if any football team actually produces anything of actual value that you can go buy at Kroger and stash in the back of the fridge till it grows a big, ugly glob of mold..
The fact that they're able to convince anyone to buy a ticket is nothing short of a miracle in itself..
In the immortal words of my old man, "Wait'll you get to be my age!"
Chicago sounds rough to the maker of verse, but the one comfort we have is Cincinnati sounds worse. ~Oliver Wendal Holmes Sr.
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(09-05-2017, 07:20 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: My attitude towards the team reflects the reality of the team. I'm not so sensitive that I need to pretend everything is ok with a football team in order to be happy in life. Life is good. My kids live a good life. I just bought a Wrangler. My Wife is amazing. The Bengals could improve.
Yeah I've never understood how some people stick their head in the sand on reality and argue on here how every move the Bengals make is a great move.
When you don't win a playoff game in 26+ years...you have problems.
And IF the Bengals had such a great management model...and the coach was the issue...management is responsible for said coach. So the model is broken there too.
They act like Marvin just keeps coaching here even though the Bengals fire him. Clearly management likes him because he can co-exist under their structure and doesn't ask for too much power. Which is a problem in itself.
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(09-05-2017, 01:28 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Over the past 2 years we've lost Whitworth, Zeitler, Peko, Nelson, Sanu, Jones, and Leon Hall. They also lost guys like Burkhead.
Zeitler, Whitworth, and Nelson were replaced with lesser players. It remains to be seen on Peko.
We'll see about that.
Hell, Whitworth might have a worse year due to the Rams' system (doubt it, just a possibility); jury's still out.
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How they do with their new team doesn't matter. Here Whitworth and Zeitler were good to great players.
If they go to the Rams and Browns and fail that doesn't mean they would fail here.
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(09-06-2017, 12:53 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: How they do with their new team doesn't matter. Here Whitworth and Zeitler were good to great players.
If they go to the Rams and Browns and fail that doesn't mean they would fail here.
Good point.
In that case, Ogbuehi's got a mountain to climb, but then the jusry is still out on Hopkins.
I think we'll see 0 dropoff from RG.
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(09-06-2017, 12:48 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Yeah I've never understood how some people stick their head in the sand on reality and argue on here how every move the Bengals make is a great move.
When you don't win a playoff game in 26+ years...you have problems.
And IF the Bengals had such a great management model...and the coach was the issue...management is responsible for said coach. So the model is broken there too.
They act like Marvin just keeps coaching here even though the Bengals fire him. Clearly management likes him because he can co-exist under their structure and doesn't ask for too much power. Which is a problem in itself.
And I 'be never understood how grown men can constantly whine about a team that has made the playoffs 5 out of 7 years.
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My hope is that our line becomes better at run blocking than last year.
Whitworth was just amazing all around - run blocking and pass blocking. Ced does seem to be good at pulling to block in the running game. He's a pretty great athlete for a big man for sure.
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(09-06-2017, 12:58 PM)bfine32 Wrote: And I 'be never understood how grown men can constantly whine about a team that has made the playoffs 5 out of 7 years.
Is the goal to be one of the 16 best teams in the league or the best team in the league?
The Bengals went from Inept to Competent and A LOT of fans are happy being Competent. The step from Competent to Great is just as steep as it was from Inept to Competent.
Not winning a playoff game with the roster we had 2-3 years ago should be a crime!
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(09-06-2017, 12:58 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: My hope is that our line becomes better at run blocking than last year.
Whitworth was just amazing all around - run blocking and pass blocking. Ced does seem to be good at pulling to block in the running game. He's a pretty great athlete for a big man for sure.
Agreed; with our backs, we should be gashing them with at least competent run blocking.
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