Bengals reschedule Okoye's visit to attend Michael Floyd's Pro Day

[kramer1]

DB blows. DE blows. MLB blows. WR blows. OG blows. C blows. FB blows. Coaching blows. Ownership blows. The schedule blows (in a bad way).

Yeah, we have a few needs.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Leon Hall is likely to be either out or not at the level he normally plays. 2013 is probably the earliest you can expect him to be at his normal level.

PacMan Jones had played in 13 games in the last three seasons. When he has played he has shown considerable rust and has even cost us a game.

Nate Clements turns 33 this season. He is seven seasons removed from his only probowl birth. He has played in over 160 NFL games. He was a fine player, but he's no longer a number 1 corner and it's questionable whether he is a second corner.

Jason Allen is a back-up.

Brandon Ghee stinks.

Reggie Nelson is average.

The rest of the safeties don't belong in the NFL.

Why would you disagree that DB is a need?

I don't disagree with safety needing some upgrade, but I think the secondary is "ok" even without Hall for the season. It is not a world beater, but it will be serviceable, rank maybe around 15-18 on pass defense. I think we can be a top 3 in run stopping D putting us right around 10th in defense as it sits right now with no upgrades at all through the draft or secondary FA.

We should have a very good defensive line with decent QB pressures to assist the secondary.

 

[cincygrad]

Last year the quarterbacks we played were Ben (X2), Joe-the-great (X2), Colt (X2), Alex Smith, Kyle Orton, Ryan Fitzpatrick, that Jacksonville Bust, Curtis Painter, Eddie Vedder, T.J. Yates, Kellen Clements, and John Skelton.

Look at that list again. Horrible, horrible quarterbacks (with the exception of Big Ben).

Now look at who we play this year Ben (X2), Joe-the-great (X2), Colt (X2), Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Tony Romo, Eli Manning, RGIII, Michael Vick, Philip Rivers, David Garrard, and Matt Cassel.

Look at that list -- The two worst quarterbacks on the list are Matt Cassel and David Garrard and both have been good enough to take their teams to the playoffs in the past.

Our D is due for a big step down this season. If we don't upgrade DB in the draft, we'll be below 20th in pass defense.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Last year the quarterbacks we played were Ben (X2), Joe-the-great (X2), Colt (X2), Alex Smith, Kyle Orton, Ryan Fitzpatrick, that Jacksonville Bust, Curtis Painter, Eddie Vedder, T.J. Yates, Kellen Clements, and John Skelton.

Look at that list again. Horrible, horrible quarterbacks (with the exception of Big Ben).

Now look at who we play this year Ben (X2), Joe-the-great (X2), Colt (X2), Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Tony Romo, Eli Manning, RGIII, Michael Vick, Philip Rivers, David Garrard, and Matt Cassel.

Look at that list -- The two worst quarterbacks on the list are Matt Cassel and David Garrard and both have been good enough to take their teams to the playoffs in the past.

Our D is due for a big step down this season. If we don't upgrade DB in the draft, we'll be below 20th in pass defense.

Okay, you convinced me. However, if we don't have a chance at Claiborne or Gilmore, we may as well wait until 2nd-4th rounds. The CB's are all meshed together about that area. Big drop off after the 1st two, and while Kirkpatrick is a fringe in my opinion between 1st and 2nd tier CB's.

 

[ckhokie]

Last year the quarterbacks we played were Ben (X2), Joe-the-great (X2), Colt (X2), Alex Smith, Kyle Orton, Ryan Fitzpatrick, that Jacksonville Bust, Curtis Painter, Eddie Vedder, T.J. Yates, Kellen Clements, and John Skelton.

Look at that list again. Horrible, horrible quarterbacks (with the exception of Big Ben).

Now look at who we play this year Ben (X2), Joe-the-great (X2), Colt (X2), Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Tony Romo, Eli Manning, RGIII, Michael Vick, Philip Rivers, David Garrard, and Matt Cassel.

Look at that list -- The two worst quarterbacks on the list are Matt Cassel and David Garrard and both have been good enough to take their teams to the playoffs in the past.

Our D is due for a big step down this season. If we don't upgrade DB in the draft, we'll be below 20th in pass defense.

Thank god someone finally made this point. I don't know how anyone could look at this team and expect us to win as many games as we did last year against shit competition, especially with the paper tiger that is our defense.

I would say a 6-10 season next year should be considered a success.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Thank god someone finally made this point. I don't know how anyone could look at this team and expect us to win as many games as we did last year against shit competition, especially with the paper tiger that is our defense.

I would say a 6-10 season next year should be considered a success.

I would not consider 6-10 a success by any stretch, matter of fact I think it would be one huge f'n disappointment.

Anything less than a winning record would be a disappointment.

 

[ckhokie]

I would not consider 6-10 a success by any stretch, matter of fact I think it would be one huge f'n disappointment.

Anything less than a winning record would be a disappointment.

Where on our schedule do you see 9 wins?

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Where on our schedule do you see 9 wins?

If you look at our team and only see the team from the 90's, than yeah hard to see any wins, but after last year with such a young core, I expect improvement from such a young team. Plus, add the upgrades in the offseason and hopefully the draft, and I expect this team to improve. Baltimore and Pittsburgh have to play these same offenses as well.

 

[Be Weary of Query]

Where on our schedule do you see 9 wins?

There were more than a handful on here that thought we wouldn't win a game last year.

0-16.

It's April...

 

[cincygrad]

If you look at our team and only see the team from the 90's, than yeah hard to see any wins, but after last year with such a young core, I expect improvement from such a young team. Plus, add the upgrades in the offseason and hopefully the draft, and I expect this team to improve. Baltimore and Pittsburgh have to play these same offenses as well.

Baltimore and Pittsburgh also had to play the same brutal schedule that we did in 2010. The difference was that while we finished with 4 wins, they played for the AFC championship. Baltimore and Pittsburgh are among the most successful franchises in all of sports. The only comparison between their organizations and ours is that we play in the same division.

We have some nice young talent -- I'm actually excited about a few of our young players. But if we really want to compete and be among the best teams, we need to keep adding. I don't see that happening - At least not right now. I figure we'll win 7 or 8 games this season and Hobs will be happy to put a positive spin on something that could have been much more.

 

[bengaldoug]

Thank god someone finally made this point. I don't know how anyone could look at this team and expect us to win as many games as we did last year against shit competition, especially with the paper tiger that is our defense.

I would say a 6-10 season next year should be considered a success.

I wouldn't call it a success, but you would have to be blind to not consider a 6-10 or worse record a real possibility against that schedule.....there's a whole lot more teams on there resembling our seven losses from last year and a whole lot less resembling our nine wins......

 

[Cincyfan78]

Remember this about the secondary last year, too...the play of the DL really helped them out. The pressure, the sacks, the ability to make the QB move around and throw balls before they were really ready...we don't know if that will be repeated this year. Guys on the DL are going to have to step up big time.

 

[flamingrey]

Baltimore and Pittsburgh also had to play the same brutal schedule that we did in 2010. The difference was that while we finished with 4 wins, they played for the AFC championship. Baltimore and Pittsburgh are among the most successful franchises in all of sports. The only comparison between their organizations and ours is that we play in the same division.

We have some nice young talent -- I'm actually excited about a few of our young players. But if we really want to compete and be among the best teams, we need to keep adding. I don't see that happening - At least not right now. I figure we'll win 7 or 8 games this season and Hobs will be happy to put a positive spin on something that could have been much more.

Not to mention their defenses are ALWAYS top 5 if not top 3 regardless of the QB's and offenses they have to face. Ours...not so much.

 

[DanBengalfan]

We messed around in free agency and now WR and G are "needs" (although, actually, Jerome Simpson may be back, and hopefully Shipley too, so maybe not as big a need)

We could righteously draft DBs with 4 of our first 5 picks.

 

[DanBengalfan]

That said, we should probably never stretch for a need. If a good player is there getting passed by others, then get him.

 

[flamingrey]

Okoye signs with the Bucs. Have to be impressed with their offseason. They've had success signing top tier guys and their backups.