Offensive Line

[CrashDavisSports]

Okay, I am officially starting to become a little more concerned.

They will be the Achilles Heel of this team. I actually think Dalton has become a pretty damn good QB, and trust him to lead this team. However, he needs time to throw the ball.

I can guarantee you, our first round pick will be an Offensive Lineman next year after we go through a year of growing pains with this line.

Fisher and Boling will be our only quality lineman this year probably.

Going to need to hope 2 of the 3 (Hopkins/Dielman/Westerman) step up to fill C and RG by end of season. We will have to draft LT #1 next year again. Cedric has been getting beat like a drum over there on the left side from all reports, I don't trust Bodine and Smith may have finally made it to the end of his career.

Winning will be very tough this year, but I can still see us potentially winning 9 to 10 games with the amount of talent on defense and skill positions on offense.

Expect a lot more 2 TE sets and more RB staying at home to help pass block. May see a lot more Hewitt this year just to help protect Dalton and to help push an extra body out of the way for a RB running into a stacked box.

No room for error this season, we have to stay healthy. Can't afford for offensive lineman to start dropping. However, that may not be a bad thing. May force us to bring some one in off the street who would be an immediate improvement, even though no other team wanted them. haha

 

[Cincyfan78]

An interesting tidbit I heard from one of the Football Outsider guys...while Bengals gave up a fair amount of sacks last year, they were actually middle of the road in terms of allowing pressure. This is most likey a result from when Eifert and Green were injured, and the running game stuck in neutral forcing Dalton to hold onto the ball longer than he needed to.

Also, speaking of the Run Game, they mentioned that the OL didn't do a great job, but also the RB's didn't exactly take advantage of when holes were opened up, thus hurting the run game as much as when the OL failed to open holes. Adding Mixon to the mix should help in that regard as he has the ability to make guys miss inside the hole, and the speed to take advantage of longer runs opened up.

Overall, I think we all know that this certainly is going to be an issue this year unless guys really step up to the plate. Cedric has looked better by reports, but Fisher continues to struggle. Hopkins has gotten praise at RG, and I would not be surprised if he ends up the starter for the majority of the season. Andre is still dealing with surgery from the off-season, and his record indicates he'll be injured sooner rather than later.

Personally, I would have worked hard to re-sign Zietler. As much as I love Whit, I would not have given him the contract the Rams got at his age, and with the way the NFL has moved towards bigger/faster DT's guards are as important as Tackles are anymore.

 

[Cincyfan78]

One positive: Willie Anderson out working with Cedric and Fisher. About damned time, too. Bengals waste former players talents by not inviting them back to work with the team. Stuff like this should have been happening for years. Then again, that's so Bengals.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Cedric has looked better by reports, but Fisher continues to struggle.

Every report I have read has been completely the opposite. They say Fisher has been our most consistent OL and is really starting to take hold of his RT position. Now, Cedric has had reports of him getting beat up and burnt on the outside by the rookies.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Every report I have read has been completely the opposite. They say Fisher has been our most consistent OL and is really starting to take hold of his RT position. Now, Cedric has had reports of him getting beat up and burnt on the outside by the rookies.

I've seen where Cedric has had Lawson flash by him, I've also seen where they've reported he's stoned him quite a bit as well.

Fisher got yelled off the field the other day. I'd go back and look for the tweets, but I'm too lazy and in the grand scheme of things, none of it really matters until it counts. Hard to really get a feel for what happens when you can't really hit or even tackle anymore in training camp.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I don't look at Twitter. I just read what is online for camp news whether that is from Cincy Jungle, Cincinnati Enquirer, NFL.com or Hobson. I didn't see where Fisher got yelled off the field. That is wonderful news.

 

[DanBengalfan]

whatever happens happens at this point. They look ok, just not great.

 

[Cincyfan78]

whatever happens happens at this point. They look ok, just not great.

The amazing thing is, if the line is just OK, league average, this offense should still be very good. A lot of variables will obviously play out (injuries), but across the board on offense, if the OL is "ok", the offense will still be very good, I think, with the weapons at hand.

I don't think there's much doubt the defense will be solid. Addition by subtraction with ReyM and Peko gone, and they are much faster across the board. Questions at CB depth, but the talent is there. After a terrible start last year, the defense was top 10 for the 2nd half of last year. I would expect to see similar output this year across the board.

Pre-season and blind homerism and optimism abound...LOL At least until September. At least they lead off at home against the Ravens, who are woeful.

 

[DanBengalfan]

if the Ravens suck, that will be very good for us.

the browns sucking again I bet?