Good observation

[CrashDavisSports]

 

[cincygrad]

I've been super critical of Duke Tobin. But the dude nailed the last two seasons of personnel moves.

 

[futballiscool]

I've been super critical of Duke Tobin. But the dude nailed the last two seasons of personnel moves.

Duke Tobin's led two massive rebuilds in the span of ten years. He has to be given a ton of credit at this point.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Also - is it time to start thinking of CJ Uzomah as a top TE?

I don't mean, Kelce good, or Andrews....because he's never going to get the targets those guys get, but maybe in that next tier?

Uzomah only has 19 targets - but he has 17 catches. He has 256 yards, and 5 TD's. That is basically a TD every 3.4 catches. He averages 15.1 YPC. Has a long of 55, and multiple over 20. That puts him 4th in YPC, Tied 1st for TD, and has the second longest TD reception (55 yards). All despite his lack of usage (not his fault, just how good the rest of the offense is).

He'll never be a "game breaker" like a Kelce or Andrews, but I think he's pushing to be in that next Tier. Again, he'll never get the Targets to put up yardage like these other guys, but with teams figuring out how to stop Chase, then Boyd/Higgins, Uzomah has been absolutely CLUTCH and CONSISTENT. I think he has a chance to put up some really BIG advanced stats based on his actual targets and usage.

 

[alf8478]

I've been thinking a lot about this since Sunday.

For the sake of this argument, I am referring from the period of time from when Marvin took over to present.

This is not the best roster the Bengals have had.
This is not the best defense the Bengals have had.
This is not (yet) the best offense the Bengals have had.
This is not the best offensive line the Bengals have had.
This is not the best coaching staff the Bengals have had.

Having said all that, this is best I have felt about the team since then. The most hope that I've had.
And its because of Burrow.
Its all about having the right quarterback in today's NFL.

 

[futballiscool]

I've been thinking a lot about this since Sunday.

For the sake of this argument, I am referring from the period of time from when Marvin took over to present.

This is not the best roster the Bengals have had.
This is not the best defense the Bengals have had.
This is not (yet) the best offense the Bengals have had.
This is not the best offensive line the Bengals have had.
This is not the best coaching staff the Bengals have had.

Having said all that, this is best I have felt about the team since then. The most hope that I've had.
And its because of Burrow.
Its all about having the right quarterback in today's NFL.

The late 2004 into 2005 team looked like it was on the verge of running the NFL before everything imploded but this is the most confidence I've had since that time. Burrow and Chase are the major reasons.

 

[Cincyfan78]

It always seemed like one of the sides of the ball was nearing elite status, while the other was "OK".

In 2005 - that defense was good, but LIVED off turnovers. If they didn't get those, they struggled.

When the defense was really good under Zimmer, the offense was good with Dalton/Green, but never "Great".

Now, the Bengals are looking at a top 10, or better, defense with an emerging offense that could be close to top 10. They also have the resources to extend/sign/draft players to build around this core on BOTH sides of the ball. That is where the 2005 and mid 2010's teams went wrong under Brown and Lewis. They never could extend the key players, or refused to sign quality F/A replacements, and when they missed here and there in the draft, those misses became amplified.

The current approach seems to be to draft, but retain and also sign key F/A - you can't simply rely on just drafting, as Brown did through the 90's and into the 2000's. You will catch lightening in a bottle, yes...but it won't be sustained and the window will only be as wide as those rookie contracts/players are around. Once the are paid, other positions were ignored (Defense, OL).

 

[futballiscool]

It always seemed like one of the sides of the ball was nearing elite status, while the other was "OK".

In 2005 - that defense was good, but LIVED off turnovers. If they didn't get those, they struggled.

When the defense was really good under Zimmer, the offense was good with Dalton/Green, but never "Great".

Now, the Bengals are looking at a top 10, or better, defense with an emerging offense that could be close to top 10. They also have the resources to extend/sign/draft players to build around this core on BOTH sides of the ball. That is where the 2005 and mid 2010's teams went wrong under Brown and Lewis. They never could extend the key players, or refused to sign quality F/A replacements, and when they missed here and there in the draft, those misses became amplified.

The current approach seems to be to draft, but retain and also sign key F/A - you can't simply rely on just drafting, as Brown did through the 90's and into the 2000's. You will catch lightening in a bottle, yes...but it won't be sustained and the window will only be as wide as those rookie contracts/players are around. Once the are paid, other positions were ignored (Defense, OL).

I agree, this is unquestionably the most complete roster since I've been following the team.

Perhaps it was partly rooted in my own youthful optimism but I was so high on that early Marvin team. The offense looked had a fantastic nucleus of young talent (Palmer, Chad, TJ, Henry, Levi, Rudi, C Perry, Steinbach) and the defense had good bulding blocks (Justin Smith, Odell Thruman, Pollack). Plus Marvin was considered a defensive guru so I expected the defense to catch up with the offense with another good draft.

That team was snakebitten. Part injuries, part character risks in the draft that didn't payoff longterm, part free agent losses

 

[jbuck]

I'm pretty stoked.

 

[cincygrad]

I think the 2015 team had the most talent. You had AJ Green, Mo Sanu, and Marvin Jones playing receiver. A healthy, pro-bowl level tight end in Tyler Eifert. The offensive line was stacked with experience and talent - Whit, Boling, Zeitler, Andre Smith. The D had HOF level Geno Atkins, a somewhat sane Tez Burfict, an interested Carlos Dunlap and good corners in Dre, Pac Man, and slot corner Leon Hall. Reggie Nelson was also at his peak. I think the D wasn't as well coached under Guenther as it had been under Zimmer, but the offense was in good hands with Hue Jackson. But again, those Bengals couldn't win big games..... And they crumbled in big moments.

The 2005 team had a cool offense, but the defense was entirely predicated on getting turnovers. I remember the shoot out with Manning, and they just had no chance to stop him.