weaknesses heading into season

[Bilbo Saggins]

Coaching staff, guards, TE room, RT, lack of identity.

[*ochocincos*]

I agree with most of yours.
However, I believe with Alexander back (right?) and Phillips, the Bengals can have an adequate starting 3 CBs without Waynes still.

For me:
1) No confidence in the OL. Most of the positive things I've read have been about Jonah. I haven't heard a lot about how great LG, RG, or RT have been.

2) Health of AJ Green and John Ross. Ross hasn't been able to remain healthy overall, and he already has an injury to his arm after falling hard on it in Wednesday's practice. Green hasn't been able to remain healthy for almost 2 full years now.

3) While it's easy to get excited for all the shiny new LBs added in the offseason, it's unlikely they all magically perform up to expectations right from the start. It will take time for them to gel, learn their assignments, and fix weaknesses.

4) Until I see it personally, I think TE is the weakest skill position player on the offense. Uzomah is ok, and there's been some buzz around Sample (kinda), but it's more hope than proven ability.

5) As you said, time to put up or shut up. It's one thing to bring in a bunch of talent and say you're going to turn the ship around. It's another to actually do it. Time to see if this offseason actually results in 7+ wins. 6-8 wins is what I expect. 5 or less is a disappointment for me.

EDIT - For clarification, even though both haven't really done anything in NFL yet but have looked good in TC, I have (much) more confidence in Jonah Williams at LT vs Sample at TE because Williams was already a proven stud at Alabama coming in. Sample, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as pro-ready, even though he was a 2nd round pick. He only had 487 yards and 5 TDs in 4 seasons. In comparison, Tyler Kroft (former 3rd rounder) had 901 yards and 5 TDs.

[McC]

Yep. The verdict is in. We sukk. Seems pointless to play the season.

[Clark W Griswold]

(09-01-2020, 05:36 PM)McC Wrote: If I had to bottom line this thread, it would be...

Weakness--everything.

Strength--nothing.

We're all set.

I’m trying to be optimistic but you are not too far off.
I think a lot of fans are going to be disappointed if they think this team is going to be good this year. They were the worst team in the NFL last year for a reason. They did a great job of addressing issues this offseason but i don’t think it’s going to turn around in just 1 year.

I honestly don’t think 5 is enough to list all of their issues.

What position groups do they have that are strong?
RBs - should be a good
DL - another strong group that has talent but some key players are aging and depth is a concern
WR - if the usual injuries don’t crush this unit
QB - he’s a rookie (but has a bright future)

[BengalChris]

1. Head coach and offensive coaching staff and defensive coaching staff: Dalton had his worst season under Taylor and Taylor couldn't seem to do much to bring it around. Dalton is a better QB than it showed last season. Taylor's play calling was lacking in effectiveness. Defense regressed last season, much worse than the year before if such were even possible but it was. Secondary seemed out of sorts. Despite the free agent signings the scheme and intellect of the defensive game planning is in question. Coaching could end up being a strength, but we won't know that until they actual shows themselves as a strength. Until then they're the staff that put up the worst record last season.

2. Corners: Waynes out and Philips is untried and Willie Jackson didn't have a good year under this staff (see 1 above). There always seem to be a few games missed by corners during the year and the way it looks is that we'll be starting some unknowns at some point during the season. This use to be a strength of the team, now it's a question mark.

3. OL: A consistently weak group since the loss of Whit and Zietler. Jonah may solidify the left side, but all that means is that Hart and the right side will be picked on even more.

4. WR health: Boyd being a consistent performer who stays on the field and the drafting of Higgins give two reliable guys, but Higgins is a rookie. We'll get as much out of AJ as can be gotten until not and we don't know how long that will go. Ross may actually show up as a player or he may just continue to be a poster child for the sad drama, "What could have been". I put this 4th because even a starting line up of Boyd, Higgins and Tate is an improvement over last year's line up of Boyd, Ross plus random other guy or Boyd plus two random other guys.

5. LB: While there is better talent this year, they're mostly green as grass and I'm expecting some lapses earlier in the season. By the end of the year, barring significant injuries, this unit might rise to being average, which would be monumental compared with last season.

Didn't mention TE, even though it's a weak group, as the coaches don't seem to know what to do with them so it wouldn't matter if this group were a bunch of hall-of-famers or a group of career underperformers. No one will be able to tell the difference due to lack of use. (See 1 above)

Didn't mention backup QB cause I believe the team will just pack it in and be looking for a high draft if Burrow gets hurt. San Fran did the same thing two years ago and ended up with Nick Bosa in the next draft and rose to the SB.

[*bengalfan74*]

(09-01-2020, 06:41 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I agree with most of yours.
However, I believe with Alexander back (right?) and Phillips, the Bengals can have an adequate starting 3 CBs without Waynes still.

For me:
1) No confidence in the OL. Most of the positive things I've read have been about Jonah. I haven't heard a lot about how great LG, RG, or RT have been.

2) Health of AJ Green and John Ross. Ross hasn't been able to remain healthy overall, and he already has an injury to his arm after falling hard on it in Wednesday's practice. Green hasn't been able to remain healthy for almost 2 full years now.

3) While it's easy to get excited for all the shiny new LBs added in the offseason, it's unlikely they all magically perform up to expectations right from the start. It will take time for them to gel, learn their assignments, and fix weaknesses.

4) Until I see it personally, I think TE is the weakest skill position player on the offense. Uzomah is ok, and there's been some buzz around Sample (kinda), but it's more hope than proven ability.

5) As you said, time to put up or shut up. It's one thing to bring in a bunch of talent and say you're going to turn the ship around. It's another to actually do it. Time to see if this offseason actually results in 7+ wins. 6-8 wins is what I expect. 5 or less is a disappointment for me.

Yep

I don't have a ton of faith in the Oline. Hopefully they'll be good enough to not get JB killed ?

I have doubts AJ and Ross ability to stay on the field.

I still worry about the LBers.

And the coaching.

[bengaloo]

All I know is its going to be interesting to see it play out. The entire team except ST is a big question mark. The #1 thing that worries me is health. We've had some bad luck and are thin in a few places. I definitely am excited to see what Taylor can do with a better OL though. We might not be that much better there, but last year we were starting scrubs off the street at LT against some very good defenses. That pretty much halted the offense until they changed the blocking scheme and got Mixon going. Dalton was running for his life more often than not last year. If that unit stays healthy we should be better off. I feel good about LB even though it may have been the only thing worse than our OL last year. I believe everyone we drafted could outplay Preston Brown today. Pratt will be better and Bynes is solid. Pratt may even turn out to be a beast. He was looking good at the end. The young guys have some proving to do, but they all look like solid draft choices and I see no reason to think they will be worse than Brown or whats his name, whiffmaster who left in FA.

[KillerGoose]

(09-01-2020, 08:44 PM)BengalChris Wrote: 1. Head coach and offensive coaching staff and defensive coaching staff: Dalton had his worst season under Taylor and Taylor couldn't seem to do much to bring it around. Dalton is a better QB than it showed last season. Taylor's play calling was lacking in effectiveness. Defense regressed last season, much worse than the year before if such were even possible but it was. Secondary seemed out of sorts. Despite the free agent signings the scheme and intellect of the defensive game planning is in question. Coaching could end up being a strength, but we won't know that until they actual shows themselves as a strength. Until then they're the staff that put up the worst record last season.

2. Corners: Waynes out and Philips is untried and Willie Jackson didn't have a good year under this staff (see 1 above). There always seem to be a few games missed by corners during the year and the way it looks is that we'll be starting some unknowns at some point during the season. This use to be a strength of the team, now it's a question mark.

3. OL: A consistently weak group since the loss of Whit and Zietler. Jonah may solidify the left side, but all that means is that Hart and the right side will be picked on even more.

4. WR health: Boyd being a consistent performer who stays on the field and the drafting of Higgins give two reliable guys, but Higgins is a rookie. We'll get as much out of AJ as can be gotten until not and we don't know how long that will go. Ross may actually show up as a player or he may just continue to be a poster child for the sad drama, "What could have been". I put this 4th because even a starting line up of Boyd, Higgins and Tate is an improvement over last year's line up of Boyd, Ross plus random other guy or Boyd plus two random other guys.

5. LB: While there is better talent this year, they're mostly green as grass and I'm expecting some lapses earlier in the season. By the end of the year, barring significant injuries, this unit might rise to being average, which would be monumental compared with last season.

Didn't mention TE, even though it's a weak group, as the coaches don't seem to know what to do with them so it wouldn't matter if this group were a bunch of hall-of-famers or a group of career underperformers. No one will be able to tell the difference due to lack of use. (See 1 above)

Didn't mention backup QB cause I believe the team will just pack it in and be looking for a high draft if Burrow gets hurt. San Fran did the same thing two years ago and ended up with Nick Bosa in the next draft and rose to the SB.

Everything has already been mentioned but I really want to hammer home one of your points; coaching. This team was a bad team talent-wise but I think the reason they were the worst team was the coaching. Zac Taylor was a pitiful playcaller last season and Anarumo was less than impressive. We have a better roster on paper but my biggest question is still the capability of the coaching staff.

[BengalChris]

(09-02-2020, 12:34 AM)KillerGoose Wrote: Everything has already been mentioned but I really want to hammer home one of your points; coaching. This team was a bad team talent-wise but I think the reason they were the worst team was the coaching. Zac Taylor was a pitiful playcaller last season and Anarumo was less than impressive. We have a better roster on paper but my biggest question is still the capability of the coaching staff.

This coaching staff desperately needs to put up more wins than Marvin did in his last year. If they cannot do that then there is no point in having them here cause they aren't good enough to take the team where it needs to go.

 

[NATI BENGALS]

None. Every weakness has been identified and we are in the process of turning the weaknesses into strengths.

[Weazzel80]

Right side of O-line is my only concern on offense. You can't ask for much more at the skill positions.

Linebackers and replacing Trae Waynes is my only concern on defense, D-line and safety is set IMO.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(09-02-2020, 01:03 AM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: None. Every weakness has been identified and we are in the process of turning the weaknesses into strengths.

RT is absolutely still a weakness. It’s sounds like they’re high on Adeniji, but he’s probably not taking the starting job from Hart just yet. And we can talk about how much he improved from his abysmal first season here all we want, but fact is Hart is not a starting OT on a good team.

[*bengalfan74*]

(09-02-2020, 01:12 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: RT is absolutely still a weakness. It’s sounds like they’re high on Adeniji, but he’s probably not taking the starting job from Hart just yet. And we can talk about how much he improved from his abysmal first season here all we want, but fact is Hart is not a starting OT on a good team.

I'm not sure he's a starting RT on a very average team ? I hope he proves us wrong, or there's somebody better on the team ?

[J24]

(09-01-2020, 06:41 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I agree with most of yours.
However, I believe with Alexander back (right?) and Phillips, the Bengals can have an adequate starting 3 CBs without Waynes still.

For me:
1) No confidence in the OL. Most of the positive things I've read have been about Jonah. I haven't heard a lot about how great LG, RG, or RT have been.

2) Health of AJ Green and John Ross. Ross hasn't been able to remain healthy overall, and he already has an injury to his arm after falling hard on it in Wednesday's practice. Green hasn't been able to remain healthy for almost 2 full years now.

3) While it's easy to get excited for all the shiny new LBs added in the offseason, it's unlikely they all magically perform up to expectations right from the start. It will take time for them to gel, learn their assignments, and fix weaknesses.

4) Until I see it personally, I think TE is the weakest skill position player on the offense. Uzomah is ok, and there's been some buzz around Sample (kinda), but it's more hope than proven ability.

5) As you said, time to put up or shut up. It's one thing to bring in a bunch of talent and say you're going to turn the ship around. It's another to actually do it. Time to see if this offseason actually results in 7+ wins. 6-8 wins is what I expect. 5 or less is a disappointment for me.

EDIT - For clarification, even though both haven't really done anything in NFL yet but have looked good in TC, I have (much) more confidence in Jonah Williams at LT vs Sample at TE because Williams was already a proven stud at Alabama coming in. Sample, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as pro-ready, even though he was a 2nd round pick. He only had 487 yards and 5 TDs in 4 seasons. In comparison, Tyler Kroft (former 3rd rounder) had 901 yards and 5 TDs.

Jordan is getting good reviews at LG; also I wouldn't worry too much about TE. 1.) I'm pretty sure there going to use Tate like how they used Divert last season + Sample was drafted for is blocking ability not his receiving ability.

[*ochocincos*]

(09-03-2020, 02:22 PM)J24 Wrote: Jordan is getting good reviews at LG; also I wouldn't worry too much about TE. 1.) I'm pretty sure there going to use Tate like how they used Divert last season + Sample was drafted for is blocking ability not his receiving ability.

Jordan - It's hard for me to get excited for Jordan after seeing how bad he was last year. I know there were growing pains though. I'll have confidence once I see it in games on a consistent basis.

TEs - We'll see, but for a TE group to be ranked among the best in the league, they have to contribute as pass catchers. This is echoed by PFF, who rates the Bengals TE group 29th in the league. https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-tight-end-rankings-all-32-units-entering-the-2020-nfl-season 
Even if Sample and Uzomah do solid or better in run blocking, they need to do the same as pass catchers for me not to consider that one of the weakest positions on offense, as the ultimate value of TE is not knowing whether they will block or catch a pass on a given play.

With that said, I see your point and hope Jordan and the TEs do well.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

- Coaching, until I see it really improve, it is a weakness
- Right side of the O-line, really hope Adeniji and XSF can fix this or Hart gets much better, but Hart looked bad in the vids.
- Youth at Linebacker, love the LB's we brought in though and think they will be much better this year.

But honestly all of this should be better than last season.