What now?

[BengalChris]

(03-12-2019, 06:39 PM)JungleRock85 Wrote: While it hasn’t been surprising that the Bengals stayed away from the top outside Free Agents and were dumb enough to bring Hart back (though at what cost still surprised) what do we think are possible moves next? The market has started to come around a little more. I could still see Eifert and Dennard in house as options along with possibly Jared Cook depending on price (he is older) and maybe a middle tier linebacker if we are lucky.

My best guess as to what the Bengals do next:

A. Sit on the dining room floor waiting until the adults are done, then hope and pray that some of the scraps that land on the floor happen to be decent enough to be useful. I'm sure one of those scraps will turn out to be a LB who will sign a 1 year prove it deal with a losing team just to stay in the game.

B. Have all the Brown family members sign up for every college player grading site, put all the players together in one list to get a composite grade on each player according to what the "expects" think. Remove all QBs who might challenge Andy Dalton. Remove all WRs who might be better than John Ross. Remove all OTs who might make our Hart deal look bad. Then break the list down into 8 pages. Those graded as 1st round value go on page 1, those who grade in the 2nd round go on page 2, and so on until page 8, which has likely college free agents. Have the Brown family children throw darts at the pages to determine each round's picks. There will be 5 darts for round 6!!!!! Exciting!!!!!

While that might sound ridiculous, if you showed this to Mike Brown he'd probably say, defensively, "we don't use darts."

 

[BengalChris]

(03-13-2019, 01:04 AM)Andy2AJ Wrote: To answer the ops question, just win in the regular season baby

I'm not sure this team will even be able to win Ohio.

 

[Atomic Orange]

I think all we can do at this point is sit back and see if the Browns do a better job than we did at being relevant again. :whiteflag:

[*SHRacerX*]

(03-13-2019, 01:02 AM)Joelist Wrote: We're one for two. Brown is a good LB but Hart is the worst RT in the NFL.

Guys, Hart isn't Ced or Fish...he was a pretty solid run blocker, but his pass blocking needs work.  They lost THREE OTs from the roster.  They needed someone that they could count on at the very least to be a starter.  They will likely get a FA or at the very least, draft someone to compete at RT.  There are LOTS of options in the draft this year...not as many LTs, but plenty of guys for the right side that could push for a starting job right away.  

Remember, the offense wasn't the problem last year until a heap of injuries and a lack of depth at WR hurt them.  That, and the scheme was predictable.  This year, a new offense, with a few key additions should be more than competitive.  The defense is the biggest question mark and I think signing Brown was a good start.  Now, they need to get one more quality starting LB out of FA (while still drafting one...depth here was paper thin last year) and, hopefully, re-sign Dennard.

If Dennard is retained, the Bengals will have clearly invested in the back end of the defense.  And while it was obvious to everyone but the coach, the defense was much better equipped to play more press man instead of our "Defense by France" where they run the other way with their hands in the air (soft zone) and get destroyed underneath.  By the time they switched, the season was over, but they should have a much better shot with their new coaching staff.  

[*SHRacerX*]

(03-13-2019, 03:57 AM)Atomic Orange Wrote: I think all we can do at this point is sit back and see if the Browns do a better job than we did at being relevant again.  :whiteflag:

The Browns certainly have a buzz about them right now.  They sure as hell gave away a lot to get OBJ, but having him on the same field with Landry could be lethal.  The balance of power has definitely tilted in the AFC North.  The Rats look like they are in a huge transition, the steelers look like a soap opera, the Browns look like a playoff team, and the Bengals look like the biggest unknown in the NFL.  

If nothing else, it will be interesting.  I am excited to see a new coaching staff with a younger, more aggressive and creative mindset.  No, before anyone attacks that statement, I don't know of that to be a certainty, but it just seems more likely than conservative Marv.  

[JungleRock85]

(03-12-2019, 11:21 PM)Jakeypoo Wrote: We all know that Duke is stupid and the Brown family is absolute trash. However if by some miracle they all vanished into dust avengers style and one of us became GM how would you salvage this shit show of an off season.
For me
Cut Vontaz with the June first destination cut. Use the extra money to sign Dennard
Trade a 5th Rd pick to the Jets for WLB Derron Lee.
Sign Eifert when healthy he is a difference maker
Start Westerman over Redmond
Trade down in the first to get an extra second thinking Titans as a logical partner. Maybe even trade down with another team after that to get a third.
In Draft first 4 picks thinking OT, LB, TE, BPA
Honestly I think our core is still high level Dalton, Mixon, Green, Boyd, Jackson, Bates, Dunlap,  Atkins, Hubbard, Williams, and Lawson I would take that core and line them up with any in the NFL. With that being said  the surrounding pieces are mostly crap especially on the offensive Line and LB position. Still can't believe the deals for either Brown or Hart.

This is a solid plan that everyone would like to see happen...sadly that is likely why it won't come close. Dennard will go elsewhere because he wouldn't accept that standard 3 year 21 million contract they threw out to the free agent group, Vontaze gets another year playing beside Preston Brown and Hobspin writes articles about when healthy they will be good, Darron Lee goes to someone else for a similar pick, no trade down and they draft a CB at 11, and then we end up winning just enough games toward the end of the season to keep them out of a top 5 pick.

[*bfine32*]

(03-13-2019, 12:01 AM)Synric Wrote: Alot of great posters are gone...

There once was a time that one had to go to smack talk to see folks talk shit about the Bengals. 

[JungleRock85]

(03-13-2019, 11:17 AM)bfine32 Wrote: There once was a time that one had to go to smack talk to see folks talk shit about the Bengals. 

I have been getting on the message boards since like 2006 and I don't remember a time where people didn't criticize things they didn't agree with about the Bengals in the main forum. There were homers like Denny who would back anything and everything they did so he could go on tours of the stadium with Mike Brown but other than that there was still a lot of disappointment with the lack of good outside signings or keeping some of our good players because we didn't want to pay them (Justin Smith, Jonathan Joseph)

[sandwedge]

(03-12-2019, 11:21 PM)Jakeypoo Wrote: We all know that Duke is stupid and the Brown family is absolute trash. However if by some miracle they all vanished into dust avengers style and one of us became GM how would you salvage this shit show of an off season.
For me
Cut Vontaz with the June first destination cut. Use the extra money to sign Dennard
Trade a 5th Rd pick to the Jets for WLB Derron Lee.
Sign Eifert when healthy he is a difference maker
Start Westerman over Redmond
Trade down in the first to get an extra second thinking Titans as a logical partner. Maybe even trade down with another team after that to get a third.
In Draft first 4 picks thinking OT, LB, TE, BPA
Honestly I think our core is still high level Dalton, Mixon, Green, Boyd, Jackson, Bates, Dunlap,  Atkins, Hubbard, Williams, and Lawson I would take that core and line them up with any in the NFL. With that being said  the surrounding pieces are mostly crap especially on the offensive Line and LB position. Still can't believe the deals for either Brown or Hart.

Can we be anymore immature or childish?