Eifert

[Trudem]

Any word on his health? Last I heard he is questionable for the start of training camp.

 

[cincygrad]

Any word on his health? Last I heard he is questionable for the start of training camp.

I think the best assumption to make when it comes to Eifert is that he is hurt and he is not playing.

I've also heard he's still hurt - Don't expect a lot of accurate info coming from the Bengals about injuries. I'll believe he's ready to play when we actually see him on the field..... And I'll enjoy his performance for the 4 or 5 games he actually plays this year. And then I hope he moves on.

 

[Trudem]

I think the best assumption to make when it comes to Eifert is that he is hurt and he is not playing.

I've also heard he's still hurt - Don't expect a lot of accurate info coming from the Bengals about injuries. I'll believe he's ready to play when we actually see him on the field..... And I'll enjoy his performance for the 4 or 5 games he actually plays this year. And then I hope he moves on.

This is similar to my thinking. Trying to decide if he is worth the investment risk

 

[cincygrad]

This is similar to my thinking. Trying to decide if he is worth the investment risk

The fact that he had back surgery in the offseason is an obvious red flag..... Part of what makes Eifert so dangerous is his height and long arms.... I think it also leads to him being injury prone. He's a big target to hit. Same issue with Gronk in NE and that guy has been injury prone since college.

 

[Trudem]

The fact that he had back surgery in the offseason is an obvious red flag..... Part of what makes Eifert so dangerous is his height and long arms.... I think it also leads to him being injury prone. He's a big target to hit. Same issue with Gronk in NE and that guy has been injury prone since college.

I agree. I took a chance on him and I was just looking for an idea on when he might return.

 

[BKBroiler9000]

Fantasy Football player news, injuries and analysis - Rotoworld.com

Apparently Eifert is on track for camp. Anyone still wanna bet he misses Week 1?

 

[cincygrad]

 

[cincygrad]

That's probably good for your back.

 

[kramer1]

I don't know about y'all, but I'm really fuckin excited about this season

 

[cincygrad]

7-9.

Winners of 4 of their last 6 will save Lewis' job

 

[kramer1]

7-9.

Winners of 4 of their last 6 will save Lewis' job

I'm not settled on 5 or 6 wins yet. Hell, I may throw a tie in there because that's soooo Bengal. When we bust out the prediction thread I'll give a definitive prediction. I'm looking at the schedule...I don't see 7 wins. I think this offense is going to be ridiculously bad. I think we will have without a doubt the worst rushing attack in the league. I think there will be multiple injuries to "key" players. It's going to be ugly and quite hilarious.

 

[Be Weary of Query]

 

[kramer1]

5 wins it is!

 

[cincygrad]

There are some crap teams on our schedule. No matter what you make of the rebuild in Cleveland, they are still going to struggle to win 3 or 4 games this year. And I wouldn't be impressed with the Ravens if they didn't have everyone injured. Aside from the Steelers, this division is weak. Home games against the Bills, Bears, Lions, and Texans all will help..... Yes, I know we never beat the Texans, but they had to have a back-up kicker miss at the gun to beat us when we were starting LaFell and Core as our only weapons. I don't see them as a good team. I don't suspect we'll have much luck on the road - Not a good place for shaky tackles and winning in Green Bay and Denver just doesn't seem likely. We could probably win down in Jacksonville or steal one in Minny if they continue to have qb issues.

Regardless, there are lots of good parts on this Bengals team. If they had a good O-line, I would say they would be in line to sneak into the playoffs and get beat in the first round. But the line concerns me and I think we finish with 7 wins.

 

[cincygrad]

BTW -- Part of the reason why I think we win much more in the back-half of the season is because I think they'll finally start giving Mixon the ball. It will finally dawn on Marvin around week 9 that he should bench Hill.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Crazy thing is...if you take the OL out of the equation, the team is pretty solid across the board. If the OL can play at least at the league average, the team can make a push.

Just not a lot of confidence that they can do that, though. So far, the tape says this OL could be one of the worst in the NFL.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

As bad as it looks for that offensive line, I am oddly not overly concerned about it. Don't get me wrong, Ced's play last year concerned me greatly when we lost Whitworth, but I feel good about him being an NFL average LT. I don't think we will miss a beat from Zeitler to Smith. I think Smith will be a great RG. My biggest concern is still Bodine as he can be a dang turnstile in the middle of that offensive line. We had a pretty questionable line in 2009 and they turned out to be pretty dang good. We will see, but I think the amount of weapons and depth we have on this team, along with McCarron still hanging around incase Dalton gets hit too many times and injured. I think our defense is a top 5 unit, and our special teams will be much better.

We were not that bad last year considering our record. Tons of injuries and we lost / tied 4 games because of Nugent. If Nugent makes the ones he is supposed to in the close games (AND EXTRA POINTS), our record goes from 6-9-1 to 10-6 just like that.

I think our team is even more loaded this year, with the big question mark being the offensive line of course, but I think they will be better than most think. I am not saying they will be great, just better than most around here think. I am still most worried about Bodine once again. I have faith in Paul Alexander, and I think Zampese learned from his mistakes last year.

I think we can be 10-6 if that oline gels to league average by game 4.

 

[DanBengalfan]

this might be the first year in a long time where i don't even watch a game.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

this might be the first year in a long time where i don't even watch a game.

I think you will regret that. I think we will be pretty good. Offenisve line will struggle from time to time but I think we could have close to a top 5 defense if most stay healthy. I think our kicking game will be much improved over Nugent and his falling apart last year. Our offense has weapons 3 deep at every position minus QB, but a hell of a good backup. Our only real question mark on this team is offensive line and I am honestly not that concerned about Ced and Fisher as much as I am Bodine (in his contract year) and Smith adjusting to RG.

I really don't think it will be as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Much easier schedule on paper to begin with also. I honestly think we are a 11-5 to 10-6 team depending on health and how fast the offensive line gels. I think this is our deepest WR core ever. Cody Core looks like a poor mans AJ Green out there, and then you throw in Malone who runs a sub 4.4 - 40, Ross who broke the combine record in the 40, then you are having to deal with a guy that had the best rookie WR ever behind AJ Green in Tyler Boyd. Then a vet like LeFell that got better as the season wore on and now back in the slot where he is most comfortable, and Erikson, the AFC kick return leader.

Andy Dalton
AJ McCarron

AJ Green
John Ross
Brandon LeFell
Tyler Boyd
Cody Core
Josh Malone
Alex Erikson

Joe Mixon
Giovani Bernard
Jeremy Hill
Ryan Hewitt

Tyler Eifert
Tyler Kroft
CJ Uzomah

That is an explosive offense and much deeper than Pittsburgh. Granted, Pittsburgh has more veteran talent at WR, but I can see this core being that good. They also have a more reliable offensive line, but I guess we will have to see how ours gel. Not really even a comparison in that department.

Defensively, I am stoked.

William Jackson and Andrew Billings now get to play after missing and entire rookie year with injuries. We subtracted Maualuga and added a better all around LB (Minter) in his place as well as a defensive leader, something Maualuga never was because he couldn't grasp calling the plays on the field. Minter and Burfict will be great together. Dennard is healthy and in a contract year. The rookies look really fast and could be difference makers. Billings over Peko.

We basically got rid of our biggest weaknesses and replaced them with better players. Our only real question is can we rush the QB, and I think with the rookies we attained, I think we will be better in that department as well. Second half of last season we were a top 5 defense.

Just have to keep guys healthy for God's sake. Injuries, schedule and Nugent killed us last year. No excuses, they happen, just wasn't our year for luck. But this team was not as poor as their record indicated at the end of the season. Nugent by himself cost us 3 games and forced us into a tie. So 0-3-1 is what Nugent personally caused. Eifert, Green, Bernard, Jackson, Billings, etc.

I know I am the homer of this group, but I am not totally unrealistic as some blind homer Bengal fans. I see our issues, and they are a concern, I am just not going all doom and gloom like a lot of you.

 

[cincygrad]

That 'great right guard' you have penciled in for the season might have already been benched after 2 days of practice. While it seems good on paper to have a dynamite run blocker like Smith line up at guard, I'm afraid it won't even come close to working in actual practice. Total Bengal move to bank on moving a guy rather than developing, acquiring or re-signing real talent at the position.

As for offensive talent. The only real established playmakers are Green, Eifert and Bernard. I think we're all done with counting on Eifert. Bernarnd is coming off an ACL. Green is awesome - No issue there. Ross and Mixon need to play to show anything and don't count on it with Marvin and the boys. LaFell is just another guy. Boyd is a nice slot receiver. Hill is garbage.

If healthy, the defense will be good..... But their numbers won't show it if our offense can't maintain possessions. And that's not a given with our O-line.

Schedule is super weak.

It feels like a 7 to 8 win season simply because we've swung and missed on some recent line prospects.

If the line surprises (like 2009), I could see this team easily coasting to 10 or more wins. But I don't see that happening.