our weakest position group

[*ochocincos*]

(08-31-2015, 07:49 PM)3wt Wrote: He didn't look too good to me as he was unceremoniously shoved into the backfield by a single defender.  Everyone says he did better, but I saw no evidence of that beyond no botched snaps.

Pretty low bar

Bodine is definitely a mediocre center. Dalton has typically performed the worst when the interior OL get pushed in.

The biggest reason that C is at least in discussion for being the weakest position group is because Bodine is mediocre along with no other dedicated center likely to be on the roster.
Who would play C if Bodine really struggles or gets injured? Is TJ Johnson worth a roster spot? Would Boling at C and someone else at LG (Fisher, Hopkins?) improve the interior OL?

I think it'd be a mistake to not at least address center within the first three rounds of next year's draft. Whether that's to replace Bodine or provide some much needed insurance, it needs to be done IMO.

[XenoMorph]

(09-01-2015, 01:38 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Bodine is definitely a mediocre center. Dalton has typically performed the worst when the interior OL get pushed in.

The biggest reason that C is at least in discussion for being the weakest position group is because Bodine is mediocre along with no other dedicated center likely to be on the roster.
Who would play C if Bodine really struggles or gets injured? Is TJ Johnson worth a roster spot? Would Boling at C and someone else at LG (Fisher, Hopkins?) improve the interior OL?

I think it'd be a mistake to not at least address center within the first three rounds of next year's draft. Whether that's to replace Bodine or provide some much needed insurance, it needs to be done IMO.

or chase that pricey free agent as i believe MACK can get out of cleveland next year.

[Bengal Dude]

Without a doubt, TE is the weakest group to me. We have Eifert and two rookies (3rd round and 5th round).

[Mike M (the other one)]

(08-30-2015, 07:39 PM)bengal kitten uk Wrote: I can see the arguments for this being TEs or LBs but for me our weakest position group at the moment is CB.

This is a position where you need at least four good starters and strong depth down to fifth or even sixth corner.

We currently have two.

Adam Jones and Dre Kirkpatrick look to be decent starters. Leon Hall has not played well in preseason after struggling last season and tbh looks like a liability. We simply don't know what were have with the currently injured Darqueze Dennard and beyond that we have two rookies in Josh Shaw and Troy Hill - neither of whom have looked comfortable in preseason - and the ever mediocre Chris Lewis-Harris.

I'm terrified of an injury to Adam Jones right now, and you should be, too.  This is the one position I could see us improving prior to week one through trade or picking up someone else's cuts.

I disagree with your assessment.

With out Burfict, the LB's are far and away our weakest. I think Dawson might emerge from this group, but no one else is really all around good. Don't get me wrong, they all seem to have their specialties that gives them some value, but they don't bring a complete package to the table like Burfict does.

[Mike M (the other one)]

Dup

[XenoMorph]

the Cheerleaders. j/k maybe

Linebackers as a group overall without burfict.

And while we are Deep on DL one could argue that their near dead last finish last year make them one of the weakest. Hopefully that isnt an issue this year.

[Hoofhearted]

(09-01-2015, 04:44 PM)Bengal Dude Wrote: Without a doubt, TE is the weakest group to me. We have Eifert and two rookies (3rd round and 5th round).

This. We've got Eifert who's only had one season of exp and two rookies. That's an awful lot of youth in one position group...

[kevin]

(08-30-2015, 07:39 PM)bengal kitten uk Wrote: I can see the arguments for this being TEs or LBs but for me our weakest position group at the moment is CB.

This is a position where you need at least four good starters and strong depth down to fifth or even sixth corner.

We currently have two.

Adam Jones and Dre Kirkpatrick look to be decent starters. Leon Hall has not played well in preseason after struggling last season and tbh looks like a liability. We simply don't know what were have with the currently injured Darqueze Dennard and beyond that we have two rookies in Josh Shaw and Troy Hill - neither of whom have looked comfortable in preseason - and the ever mediocre Chris Lewis-Harris.

I'm terrified of an injury to Adam Jones right now, and you should be, too.  This is the one position I could see us improving prior to week one through trade or picking up someone else's cuts.

Last year it was LB and by play-offs WR / TE......Anybody remember Steelers running the power sweep over and over for big games, all game, as they swept us in 2014, and our LB's just didn't cut the mustard, they got ran off the field. .....and of course everybody remembers Eifert, Jones, AJ out in play-offs, and did we even have Sanu or Gresham ??? The guys we were forced to play tried, but never got open once. Just not good enough 2nd and 3rd string receivers.

So I was hoping for more depth at LB and WR......Regular season will show if we improved. Steelers probably already have plans to power sweep us off the field again, if they can. AJ Hawk is an upgrade. ( how many AJ's can you have on one team. I think we are setting a record for AJ's ).

[Luvnit2]

(09-01-2015, 01:38 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Bodine is definitely a mediocre center. Dalton has typically performed the worst when the interior OL get pushed in.

The biggest reason that C is at least in discussion for being the weakest position group is because Bodine is mediocre along with no other dedicated center likely to be on the roster.
Who would play C if Bodine really struggles or gets injured? Is TJ Johnson worth a roster spot? Would Boling at C and someone else at LG (Fisher, Hopkins?) improve the interior OL?

I think it'd be a mistake to not at least address center within the first three rounds of next year's draft. Whether that's to replace Bodine or provide some much needed insurance, it needs to be done IMO.

I find it interesting you have labeled Bodine mediocre after his rookie season. It is strange he has not taken one snap, but your opinion prior to playing in the 2015 season is he has no hope of improvement.

Strange indeed for a young player to label him as peaked his rookie year.

[AtomicBlaze]

I am most worried about LB. Every year our LB depth has killed us around playoff time. This year 2 starters Lamur, and Burfict are already injured. I think the backup LBs are below average also. I am not really worried about any other position group. I am hoping a couple of the younger LB step up this year or were in big trouble.

[type_stripe]

I think we're solid at CB. Truthfully our secondary as a whole is scary and the CBs factor a lot into that equation. The OL has some shaky points for pass protection but excels with run blocking. Depends on what youre expecting from the team on either side of the ball.

[3wt]

(09-02-2015, 04:52 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: I find it interesting you have labeled Bodine mediocre after his rookie season. It is strange he has not taken one snap, but your opinion prior to playing in the 2015 season is he has no hope of improvement.

Strange indeed for a young player to label him as peaked his rookie year.

I think we were all hoping to see a difference in training camp.   It's not over yet, and people are saying that Bodine looked much better than his play in Tampa Bay.

But, without the ability  to look at film, he has not passed the eye test.   The guy has been shoved back into our backfield by a single defender, and appears to be whiffing on stunts.  Additionally he's had trouble with long snaps in camp (though they are working on new techniques).  He may pull it out yet, but so far I see no improvement over last year.

[Shake n Blake]

I strongly disagree. We probably have some of the best depth at CB in the league. Just look at the rosters of some other teams. We have 4 CBs who could start for a lot of teams.

- Pacman has played at a pro-bowl level

- DreKirk is a 1st round pick and has really looked good over the last couple seasons. I think he'll be fine as a starter.

- Dennard is another 1st rounder and our depth has kept him from a bigger role. I have no reason to believe he wouldn't be good as a starter.

- Leon isn't what he once was, but he doesn't need to be. He's covers the slot and does a decent job at it. I'd still take an aging Leon over some of the guys who are starting out there.

- Josh Hill, rookie or not, has been pretty impressive. We're talking about our 5th CB here, and I even feel good about him. He's shown some promise.

I'm no homer, but there's nothing to worry about here. Now LB, C and WR are a different story.

[McC]

(09-03-2015, 02:58 AM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I strongly disagree. We probably have some of the best depth at CB in the league. Just look at the rosters of some other teams. We have 4 CBs who could start for a lot of teams.

- Pacman has played at a pro-bowl level

- DreKirk is a 1st round pick and has really looked good over the last couple seasons. I think he'll be fine as a starter.

- Dennard is another 1st rounder and our depth has kept him from a bigger role. I have no reason to believe he wouldn't be good as a starter.

- Leon isn't what he once was, but he doesn't need to be. He's covers the slot and does a decent job at it. I'd still take an aging Leon over some of the guys who are starting out there.

- Josh Hill, rookie or not, has been pretty impressive. We're talking about our 5th CB here, and I even feel good about him. He's shown some promise.

I'm no homer, but there's nothing to worry about here. Now LB, C and WR are a different story.

Interesting that a roster considered strong by lots of people outside the organization has 3 position groups that can easily be considered weak.  I guess the upshot is that in the NFL, very few teams don't have weaknesses.

[djs7685]

(09-03-2015, 08:34 AM)McC Wrote: Interesting that a roster considered strong by lots of people outside the organization has 3 position groups that can easily be considered weak.  I guess the upshot is that in the NFL, very few teams don't have weaknesses.

WR is only "weak" if we have injuries, but the same can be said about MANY positions on MANY teams.

A.J. is a top 10 #1, MLJ is a better #2 than most teams have right now, and while Sanu isn't amazing as a 1/2, he's certainly a great option out of the slot and in the role he should be in for the 2015 season. Hill, Eifert, Gio, and Burkhead will be getting their share of receptions, so we aren't built as a team that needs to go 6 or 7 deep at WR. It looks like we may only carry 5 WRs this season considering Gio and Burkheads respective skillsets.

We're an injury away from having a questionable group there, but like I said before, I could say that about most team's WR corps and many other positions as well. It's impossible to have great depth at every position. I'll be on board saying we're "weak at WR" only if MLJ or A.J. go down.

LB and C on the other hand, those are legitimate issues. We already do have injury problems in a group of mostly mediocre LBs, and we have a Bodine problem at C with no legitimate option behind him. Yuck.

[AtomicBlaze]

People are writing off Leon Hall a little early, I think he is just taking it easy in the pre-season. He is not as good as his prime but he is still dependable. CB is probably one of our strongest groups. In fact I feel really good about our entire secondary. If we get exposed in the passing game it will likely be against our LB core.

[fredtoast]

LB and C.

Some people would call the TEs "unproven", but I feel much better about them than our LBs and C.

We may lack depth at WR, but we are pretty good with a top 3 of Green, Jones, and Sanu. Not talking just about potential with this group. I think most people would be satisfied with a repeat of what they did in '13.

CB could also be called "unproven", but I feel way better about them than many other positions. Hall is not as bad as some people claim. He played a lot last year when we had a top three pas efficiency defense despite being last in sacks. That doesn't happen if one of your major players really sucks. Plus I liked what I saw from both Dennard and Kirkpatrick last year. Dennard didn't play a lot, but he did have a big forced fumble.

So that basically leaves LB and C. Teamwork and chemistry mean a lot to the O-line, so I don't see Bodine getting benched. Surely he will play a little better than he did last year. Hopefully that will be well enough for the O-line as a whole to be successful.

At LB I have no idea who should be starting where until Burfict gets back. And is it possible that Burfict plays MLB when he returns? There are a bunch of interesting prospects in our LB corps, but they also all have question marks. Without Burfict they are weak

[BoomerFan]

(08-31-2015, 10:48 AM)BengalRugby Wrote: TE is the team's biggest question-mark. Eifert may be an injury case and there are only other rookies behind him.

I hope this does not turn into another season where the Bengals go seeking aid from season vets like Dan Coats...

I had nearly forgotten ol' Stonehands Coats. I don't hate the guy but our loyalty to a TE who could catch...well it was a mistake.

With cut downs happening, there are some TEs out there. Hope our people are looking because I agree this is our thinnest position.

[XenoMorph]

(09-03-2015, 02:19 PM)BoomerFan Wrote: I had nearly forgotten ol' Stonehands Coats. I don't hate the guy but our loyalty to a TE who could catch...well it was a mistake.

With cut downs happening, there are some TEs out there. Hope our people are looking because I agree this is our thinnest position.

unfortantely there are a lot of teams searching for TEs too... but if eifert misses any time we are in trouble there.

[*psychdoctor*]

In order of weakness:
1- Backers
2- TE
3- Offensive line, specifically Center and backup guards.
4- Safeties, backup.  Smith is raw, and Williams is still green on his reads. 
5- QB: There, I said it, I am not sold on Dalton and AJ is still green .

Weakest link on team?  Center.  Backup Center not that great either.