The OFFICIAL Welcome Al Golden Thread

[*bfine32*]

Golden's first year as our LB coach we drafted Logan Wilson in the 3rd and AD_G in the 4th. Both have lived up to their draft status, with Wilson arguably being our best pick on D in the Zac era. Hopefully he can do that for all the defensive positions this year

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(01-24-2025, 01:07 PM)Sled21 Wrote: While we all want a top 5 defense, we really just need a middle of the pack defense and the offense will carry us the rest of the way.

We just need a middle of the pack defense to make the playoffs.
That's not the actual goal, though.
We need a good defense to actually win in the playoffs and win a SB.

Our offense has only had more than 2 TDs in a playoff game once out of the 7 (3 against the Bills in '22) and averages just 22.3 points per game. They weren't some massive offensive juggernaut in the playoffs that can carry a mediocre defense.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(01-23-2025, 07:53 PM)pally Wrote: As we all know by now, Al Golden is our new DC.  So we can move all our speculation about his coaching to a new thead!!!  Sunset said I could start a new welcome thread.

Let's play complementary football.

Time to get started, @CoachAlGolden pic.twitter.com/1qu08T5vSC

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 23, 2025

Nice, I think we will see a more aggressive approach on Defense with Al at the helm. Might get bit in the ass, but we played way too 
soft and got bit in the ass under Lou. We also cannot rely on turnovers, so we will have to play better technically, better tackling, better
communication and make the Offense earn every yard.

I think we will be a better Defense under Al Golden, the question is how much better. In the meantime, get the coaches and players in 
here that fit what scheme he will bring. I am sure he has his eye on a lot of good players in this next Draft and played against a lot of 
them. An inside track this year will be nice. Give Trey and BJ extensions and we keep our best player and a solid one to build around.

[SunsetBengal]

(01-24-2025, 02:52 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: We just need a middle of the pack defense to make the playoffs.
That's not the actual goal, though.
We need a good defense to actually win in the playoffs and win a SB.

Our offense has only had more than 2 TDs in a playoff game once out of the 7 (3 against the Bills in '22) and averages just 22.3 points per game. They weren't some massive offensive juggernaut in the playoffs that can carry a mediocre defense.

That's a great point that goes to reinforce the old adage of "Offense puts fans in the seats, but Defense wins Championships".

[Frank Booth]

(01-24-2025, 08:09 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: That's a great point that goes to reinforce the old adage of "Offense puts fans in the seats, but Defense wins Championships".

I would think winning is simply enough

[SunsetBengal]

(01-24-2025, 09:16 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: I would think winning is simply enough

Well, of course winning is enough to put folks in the stadium, but in order to win Championships it generally takes defense.

[Joelist]

Welcome Al Golden! You have two main missions out of the gate:

1) FIX THE TACKLING! This has to be job one.

2) Make sure everyone really does know and understand assignments. This is also critical.

These two issues together comprised probably 80% of the problems on defense the last 2 seasons. One (#2) caused the constant explosive plays especially in the passing game and the other both caused explosive plays and turned many plays they actually did react to correctly into explosives.


Once these two are under control then things like the pass rush and not using players in a manner aligned with their strengths can be better dealt with.

[BFritz21]

(01-24-2025, 10:36 PM)Joelist Wrote: Welcome Al Golden! You have two main missions out of the gate:

1) FIX THE TACKLING! This has to be job one.

2) Make sure everyone really does know and understand assignments. This is also critical.

These two issues together comprised probably 80% of the problems on defense the last 2 seasons. One (#2) caused the constant explosive plays especially in the passing game and the other both caused explosive plays and turned many plays they actually did react to correctly into explosives.


Once these two are under control then things like the pass rush and not using players in a manner aligned with their strengths can be better dealt with.

I think fundamentals are lost in football today and not being properly taught at the youth level.

Keep your head up, try and put your helmet on the ball, wrap up, and roll your hits!

Everyone else on D needs to sprint towards the ball til the whistle is blown!

[Speedy Thomas]

(01-24-2025, 11:08 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I think fundamentals are lost in football today and not being properly taught at the youth level.

Keep your head up, try and put your helmet on the ball, wrap up, and roll your hips!

Everyone else on D needs to sprint towards the ball til the whistle is blown!

Accurate breakdown of defensive fundamentals.  Apparently Brad had some coaching back in the day.  I would add maintain gap responsibility/outside leverage.

Two drills my high school teams did EVERY DAY -- individual form tackling (not live) and team pursuit.

[Millhouse]

(01-24-2025, 11:08 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I think fundamentals are lost in football today and not being properly taught at the youth level.

Keep your head up, try and put your helmet on the ball, wrap up, and roll your hits!

Everyone else on D needs to sprint towards the ball til the whistle is blown!

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

(01-24-2025, 02:52 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: We just need a middle of the pack defense to make the playoffs.
That's not the actual goal, though.
We need a good defense to actually win in the playoffs and win a SB.

Our offense has only had more than 2 TDs in a playoff game once out of the 7 (3 against the Bills in '22) and averages just 22.3 points per game. They weren't some massive offensive juggernaut in the playoffs that can carry a mediocre defense.

I keep trying to tell people this about our offense. It is NOT elite. It is mostly predictable, one-dimensional, and finese.Yes, Burrow & Chase put up big numbers, in part because it IS so lopsided. 

Truly elite offenses can run and pass and control the line of scrimmage (Baltimore, Buffalo, Philly, Detroit). And while KC struggle at OT nowadays, Thuney, Humphrey, & Smith are probably the best IOL trio in the league, and Mahommes can evade outside rushers if the middle is clean. 

Burrow is a better QB than any of the others except Mahommes and Chase the most dangerous weapon. 

Our strategy, this year, should be to make the offense elite & make the D decent. Upgrade both G spits, retain Tee, and get a 3rd option somewhere (TE/WR3, Gesicki, another draft pick, whatever). 

Restructure Burrow + cut the dead wood (Rankins, Cappa, Volson, Moss, Hubbard) and we are looking at around $100 mil in space. 

Justin Jefferson's year 1 cap hit on his deal is $15.1 mil. It baloons in the middle ($39, $43.5, $47.5, $6). There is no way Higgins' deal should be that much more than Jefferson's Y1, even if we flatten it out more. Say a $20 mil hit Y1. Say extensions for Chase & Trey add another $15 mil to the cap. We still have $65 mil to play with. 

[BFritz21]

(Yesterday, 10:21 AM)Speedy Thomas Wrote: Accurate breakdown of defensive fundamentals.  Apparently Brad had some coaching back in the day.  I would add maintain gap responsibility/outside leverage.

Two drills my high school teams did EVERY DAY -- individual form tackling (not live) and team pursuit.

Nice add. Sounds like you had some good coaching as well or did some good coaching.

I remember back in the day watching defensive linemen and linebackers in the blitz responsibility/run gap/pass rush alley responsibility drills where we'd have mock offensive linemen holding arm pads and the center would snap the ball and you'd see the backers and linemen rip through the blockers while maintaining their gap responsibilities and still eyeing their key.

We did those drills every day too, not as much since I was a DB, but we definitely did them, especially since my coach was a physical corner when he played.

[*Synric*]

How much time realistically do we think Professional NFL players get to work on tackling techniques in practice?


My guess it's 10 to 12 minutes for linebackers and 5 or 6 minutes for DBs and DL.

[Joelist]

(11 hours ago)Synric Wrote: How much time realistically do we think Professional NFL players get to work on tackling techniques in practice?


My guess it's 10 to 12 minutes for linebackers and 5 or 6 minutes for DBs and DL.

Then allocate time differently. Bad tackling undoes a lot of other things. 

[Soonerpeace]

(01-24-2025, 02:52 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: We just need a middle of the pack defense to make the playoffs.
That's not the actual goal, though.
We need a good defense to actually win in the playoffs and win a SB.

Our offense has only had more than 2 TDs in a playoff game once out of the 7 (3 against the Bills in '22) and averages just 22.3 points per game. They weren't some massive offensive juggernaut in the playoffs that can carry a mediocre defense.

That’s true but their efficiency strong and Redzone scoring. So TD’s most important a lot goes into success.

[Speedy Thomas]

(11 hours ago)Synric Wrote: How much time realistically do we think Professional NFL players get to work on tackling techniques in practice?


My guess it's 10 to 12 minutes for linebackers and 5 or 6 minutes for DBs and DL.

It doesn't take more than that.  I watch Bengals DL go through their pre-game down in the south end zone and it always includes form tackling.  A couple of reps each to review is sufficient.  But I think sloppy tackling occurs in games because guys get excited and just try for the big hit.  Everybody wants to be on Sport Center.  Coaches need to hold them accountable when that happens. Emphasize that they can create turnovers while still using correct technique.  Show them Vonn Bell de-cleating Schmuster as an example.  Vonn didn't wrap him up, but that was because the little punk was launched backward before he could.  That will always be one of my all-time favorite Bengals plays.  Talk about sending a message.  We need a defense full of guys who hit like that.

[Bilbo Saggins]

(01-24-2025, 01:15 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Why would we care about his record as a HC? Most of the best candidates out there this cycle were terrible HC’s.

Being a successful HC at the college level seems a lot easier than doing so in the pros. A lot of great coordinators did fail at the HC thing pretty hard in the NFL. 

So for me going .500 as a college HC doesn't wow me as being impressive. Maybe it was. Maybe those teams exceeded expectations or overcame talent deficiencies. But a .500 mark as a college HC doesn't really move the needle for me like some other accolades. Has Golden piloted an NFL defense to a top 5 finish before? Made a great pro offense look off balance? Why did the ownership poo-poo other candidates who did in favor of a former employee who they may know or like on a personal level?

Back to your question, I'd be interested in correlation between college HC records and NFL coordinator success. I don't have that info right at my fingertips nor the time to write a paper on football hiring processes. Schwartz, Spagnuolo, Joseph, etc. etc. flopped at HC in the pros but that's pro level and a different animal. Golden's track record looks pretty meh to me. It doesn't stick out like a sore thumb like Jim Harbaugh's where you wonder why teams aren't lining up to hire him. Zimmer and Saleh have better NFL DC credentials full stop. Others too. He seems like a comfort hire who won't rock the boat. 

[SunsetBengal]

(10 hours ago)Speedy Thomas Wrote: It doesn't take more than that.  I watch Bengals DL go through their pre-game down in the south end zone and it always includes form tackling.  A couple of reps each to review is sufficient.  But I think sloppy tackling occurs in games because guys get excited and just try for the big hit.  Everybody wants to be on Sport Center.  Coaches need to hold them accountable when that happens. Emphasize that they can create turnovers while still using correct technique.  Show them Vonn Bell de-cleating Schmuster as an example.  Vonn didn't wrap him up, but that was because the little punk was launched backward before he could.  That will always be one of my all-time favorite Bengals plays.  Talk about sending a message.  We need a defense full of guys who hit like that.

I agree with what you're saying, but in the case of a LB like Germaine Pratt versus a RB, he needs to drop and wrap. Every time.