AJ Green retires

[Tony]

(02-07-2023, 11:25 AM)Graphicguy Wrote: Lots and lots of great football memories with AJ when he was a Bengal.  No drama, class act all the way.  Congrats to him on his retirement.  Hope he retires on a one day contract as a Bengal, as has been mentioned.

He made Andy better.  But, Andy made him better, too.

There is no way you really believe Andy made AJ better... He bailed Andy out constantly...

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-07-2023, 12:15 AM)BFritz21 Wrote: You'll have to show me that stat and I guess it depends on what you mean by "deep ball" because I remember multiple discussions and videos on the previous board about Dalton struggling to throw the deep ball and AJ having to slow down (or almost completely stop sometimes) because Dalton under-threw him.

By quarterback rating, on deep throws he was only top 20 two times, with his best being #14 in 2015. 

[XenoMorph]

(02-07-2023, 01:55 PM)Tony Wrote: There is no way you really believe Andy made AJ better... He bailed Andy out constantly...

How'd AJ do without Dalton?

[*rfaulk34*]

I have mixed emotions on AJ. Kind of meh...

Unquestionably a great receiver. Always seemed like a humble(ish) guy but that last year really soured me on him. As much as his QB gets/got ragged on, i believe they were really good friends and i don't think AJ liked the way QB14 was treated at the end and he seemed to be checked out mentally in 2020. 

Great career. Good luck in everything you do from here on out. 

[*ochocincos*]

AJ Green was probably my favorite Bengals player in the 2010's decade.
Would like to see Green inducted into the RoH at some point down the road.
Great career (although not NFL HOF worthy, IMO)

[*jason*]

(02-07-2023, 02:13 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: I have mixed emotions on AJ. Kind of meh...

Unquestionably a great receiver. Always seemed like a humble(ish) guy but that last year really soured me on him. As much as his QB gets/got ragged on, i believe they were really good friends and i don't think AJ liked the way QB14 was treated at the end and he seemed to be checked out mentally in 2020. 

Great career. Good luck in everything you do from here on out. 

I'd agree with that if he hadn't been a shell of himself in Arizona too. I just don't think he had it anymore, and he always had an aloof demeanor and body language.

[*jason*]

(02-06-2023, 09:37 PM)Awful Llama Wrote: On behalf of all Daytonians, we humbly apologize.  On the bright side, we haven't ruined a single Bengal's season in the 42 months since.  

That field they were actually supposed to practice on has since be completed and sits across from where I work.

[BFritz21]

(02-07-2023, 02:05 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: By quarterback rating, on deep throws he was only top 20 two times, with his best being #14 in 2015. 

Exactly because, like I said, I, along with many other members, mentioned his deep ball being a weakness on the old board.

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-07-2023, 03:23 PM)jason Wrote: I'd agree with that if he hadn't been a shell of himself in Arizona too. I just don't think he had it anymore, and he always had an aloof demeanor and body language.

Yeah, the early-career aloofness wasn't a problem for me because he produced. It was the last year seemingly loafing that did it for me. 

[*Awful Llama*]

(02-07-2023, 03:28 PM)jason Wrote: That field they were actually supposed to practice on has since be completed and sits across from where I work.

Is that the practice field next to the baseball stadium?  Yeah, that looks nice.  I always thought it would be nice if the football team could build up the stands there and use that for games instead of Welcome, but I'm curious to see what Welcome will look like once it's completely renovated.  Only seven months until next season.  

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(02-07-2023, 04:39 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Yeah, the early-career aloofness wasn't a problem for me because he produced. It was the last year seemingly loafing that did it for me. 

Yeah, didn't he have around 850 yards in '21 for the Cards? That did kinda irk me, but I'll remember his prime. He was a good one 

[Shake n Blake]

(02-06-2023, 09:44 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Actually i read where during there run of 5 playoffs, Dalton ranked well on the deep pass, perception eye of the bolder i guess.  

In the end Dalton and Green had a nice duo.. to me it is less about the deep ball but imagine if Green/Dalton had Boyd and Higgins for 3 years together, what that AJ might have accomplished,

It truly was people seeing what they wanted to see. They would forget the dimes because it didn't match the narratives in their heads. Then any time AJ had to slow down or Andy just missed the throw, they'd remember.

In truth, deep passes are very low % and high risk. The best typically hit around 30% of them. If you are above that, you're doing well. Dalton had solid deep ball stats.

The bigger problem for AJ is that we rarely had a very good #2. It was often someone like Jerome Simpson or Brandon LaFell. Sanu was meh. Marvin Jones got hurt a lot.

Compare that to now. The focus was 100% on AJ. Dalton did force feed him the ball at times, which helped his stats but probably hindered the offense a bit.

-------------------------

AJ will probably be one of the most loved Bengals. Only partially due to his success. He was just such a likeable dude. Btw, I still think he looked like Chris Tucker.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(02-07-2023, 01:51 PM)Tony Wrote: My favorite AJ Green moment was when he choked and beat Jalen Ramseys ass....

Your favorite moment came in a loss?

(02-07-2023, 02:08 PM)XenoMorph Wrote: How'd AJ do without Dalton?

Well that’s just incredibly disingenuous. AJ was clearly broken down by the time he left here. Maybe it was from all the hospital balls Dalton threw him over the years. :P

[*bengalfan74*]

(02-07-2023, 07:58 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: It truly was people seeing what they wanted to see. They would forget the dimes because it didn't match the narratives in their heads. Then any time AJ had to slow down or Andy just missed the throw, they'd remember.

In truth, deep passes are very low % and high risk. The best typically hit around 30% of them. If you are above that, you're doing well. Dalton had solid deep ball stats.

The bigger problem for AJ is that we rarely had a very good #2. It was often someone like Jerome Simpson or Brandon LaFell. Sanu was meh. Marvin Jones got hurt a lot.

Compare that to now. The focus was 100% on AJ. Dalton did force feed him the ball at times, which helped his stats but probably hindered the offense a bit.

-------------------------

AJ will probably be one of the most loved Bengals. Only partially due to his success. He was just such a likeable dude. Btw, I still think he looked like Chris Tucker.

Yup

I remember doing a thread from an article/research some sports writer did oh maybe 2014? I dunno? And Dalton was actually among the best in the NFL with the deep ball, top 5 I'm sure. But like you say the narrative was Andy sucks soo...

[Essex Johnson]

(02-07-2023, 02:13 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: I have mixed emotions on AJ. Kind of meh...

Unquestionably a great receiver. Always seemed like a humble(ish) guy but that last year really soured me on him. As much as his QB gets/got ragged on, i believe they were really good friends and i don't think AJ liked the way QB14 was treated at the end and he seemed to be checked out mentally in 2020. 

Great career. Good luck in everything you do from here on out. 

I still feel he left better than Chad.. I thought Chad hurt the locker room at the end and became very self centered over AJ... It has become pretty clear with the lack of production his last three years, injuries did him in.  He still left with class, barely a negative word about the organization. 

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-07-2023, 09:10 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: I still feel he left better than Chad.. I thought Chad hurt the locker room at the end and became very self centered over AJ... It has become pretty clear with the lack of production his last three years, injuries did him in.  He still left with class, barely a negative word about the organization. 

Yeah, i don't dislike him...just a sour taste. I can give guys like Chad and Corey Dillon a bit of a pass because they were getting out at the end of bad runs. Hard workers that just couldn't catch a break with some bad teams. AJ was here for the beginning of the Burrow era and he decided to opt out.

[Essex Johnson]

(02-07-2023, 09:40 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: Yeah, i don't dislike him...just a sour taste. I can give guys like Chad and Corey Dillon a bit of a pass because they were getting out at the end of bad runs. Hard workers that just couldn't catch a break with some bad teams. AJ was here for the beginning of the Burrow era and he decided to opt out.

Well we can disagree, he started 14 games so he did not beg out with some weak injury but struggled as did most of the team during Burrows 1st year.. and I think was just not the player he once was  more than anything..   Dillion left in 2003 , Chad  after 2010 season.. big difference. we made playoffs in 208-09, Chad was part of the downhill slide after that.. he slide started after his HOF jacket thing.. i will take AJ and the way he presented himself and the organization over Chad.  That does not mean Chad did not perform on the field, he had some great years but AJ was just a better representative of the team during their career. 

[*rfaulk34*]

(02-07-2023, 10:20 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Well we can disagree, he started 14 games so he did not beg out with some weak injury but struggled as did most of the team during Burrows 1st year.. and I think was just not the player he once was  more than anything..   Dillion left in 2003 , Chad  after 2010 season.. big difference. we made playoffs in 208-09, Chad was part of the downhill slide after that.. he slide started after his HOF jacket thing.. i will take AJ and the way he presented himself and the organization over Chad.  That does not mean Chad did not perform on the field, he had some great years but AJ was just a better representative of the team during their career. 

There was some question around the end of '19 about whether he could have come back or whether he made a 'business decision' to sit out the rest of the year. 2020 he just looked to be mentally out of it, to me. Maybe it was the lingering mental issue with the injury, maybe he just didn't have it. I just never got the sense that he was bought in and giving it 100%. 

I don't have a problem with how AJ carried himself. He was head and shoulders above Chad. They'll both go down as great Bengals wide receivers, just in different ways. 

[*pally*]

AJ and his family are looking forward to rooting for the Bengals again

https://www.bengals.com/news/a-j-green-and-family-head-into-retirement-rooting-for-bengals-after-12-nfl-seaso

Quote:A.J. Green may be retired from the NFL. But not from rooting for the team that drafted him a dozen years ago.

"Miranda is like, 'Now we can root for the Bengals again,'" Green said of his grateful wife no longer worrying about injuries. "That's my team now. I want those guys to win. I'm a big fan of Joe (Burrow), and those guys. One thing about the Bengals. They'll draft the skill players unbelievably. They always do well. I hope they can keep all those boys in."
 
Even the youngest Green, soon to be four, is all in on the Bengals.

"Gunnar always tells me, 'Daddy, you need to go back to the Bengals,'" said Green, a day after he made his retirement officially did.

Quote:Green is still on a group text with Higgins and Boyd. When they drafted Chase a month after Green left, Green texted receivers coach Troy Walters and they thought he reminded them of a fast A.J. Brown. Green could go back even longer than. "He's not as tall as lot of these guys, but he's a fast. Like a fast Anqan Boldin. Love Chase."

Zac and the front office really need to bring AJ back into the fold.  

[Shake n Blake]

(02-07-2023, 10:20 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Well we can disagree, he started 14 games so he did not beg out with some weak injury but struggled as did most of the team during Burrows 1st year.. and I think was just not the player he once was  more than anything..   Dillion left in 2003 , Chad  after 2010 season.. big difference. we made playoffs in 208-09, Chad was part of the downhill slide after that.. he slide started after his HOF jacket thing.. i will take AJ and the way he presented himself and the organization over Chad.  That does not mean Chad did not perform on the field, he had some great years but AJ was just a better representative of the team during their career. 

Man, I swear I read a credible article back in the day that said Chad asked the FO for defensive help before he asked for a trade. He and Palmer seemed to be in the same boat on just wanting to win, but Palmer gets a lot more respect than Chad does.

I guess it's the celebrations, but I have no doubt Chad was a team guy who wanted to win. I think winning just changes perception. When we were in contention, Chad was the lovable goofball. When the losses piled up, then it was "ok, now he's annoying."