Bengals Related News & Notes

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Jmble
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Re: Bengals Related News & Notes

Post by Jmble » Wed Mar 03, 2021 2:51 pm

Bengals1 wrote:
Wed Mar 03, 2021 2:49 pm
MeatHeadbengal wrote:
Wed Mar 03, 2021 2:38 pm
Long snappers don’t have much in the way of stats, but the one that counts has reached an epic level for Harris: 1,699 consecutive deep snaps without an unplayable delivery.

Are they actively trying to jinx the man???
Its okay Meat.....Fat Randy will just shank the kick anyway. :roll:
No chance Randy Bullock is kicking for the Bengals next year.

By all accounts we will likely see a competition between Austin Siebert and somebody new brought in for camp.

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Bengals1
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Re: Bengals Related News & Notes

Post by Bengals1 » Wed Mar 03, 2021 3:24 pm

Jmble wrote:
Wed Mar 03, 2021 2:51 pm
No chance Randy Bullock is kicking for the Bengals next year.

By all accounts we will likely see a competition between Austin Siebert and somebody new brought in for camp.
You're saying we'll have a new shanker in Cincy next season...? ;)
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Joe Bananas
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Re: Bengals Related News & Notes

Post by Joe Bananas » Wed Mar 03, 2021 4:55 pm

IS Bullock still actually part of this team? And if yes, WHY!? And if no, thank jeezus!
I was crazy back when being crazy really meant something.

Jmble
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Re: Bengals Related News & Notes

Post by Jmble » Fri Mar 05, 2021 10:15 am

Bengals released OL BJ Finney. Save 3.3 mil this year.

From Dehner
The #Bengals released center BJ Finney, who they got back in the Carlos Dunlap trade.

This was the most obvious of their potential cuts. Save $3.3M this year. He was not in the plans up front.

Jmble
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Re: Bengals Related News & Notes

Post by Jmble » Mon Mar 08, 2021 11:31 am

Paul Dehner on Duke Tobin meeting with the media today
Duke Tobin: "We have one of the premier, best young quarterbacks in the game."

Says it's all about building around him.
From my Zoom box, Duke Tobin did not sound like a man who plans on sitting on his hands the next few weeks and waiting out free agency.
I'm sure we will be getting a detailed account before too long, but at least that is a good sign.

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Bengals1
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Re: Bengals Related News & Notes

Post by Bengals1 » Mon Mar 08, 2021 1:40 pm

BENGALS TALK 🗣 Marisa Contipelli @BengalsMarisa
Duke Tobin: "I never say never to anything," on if the team would potentially trade out of 5th pick.
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Jmble
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Re: Bengals Related News & Notes

Post by Jmble » Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:38 pm

Here's Paul Dehner's piece on the Duke Tobin session today from The Athletic
CINCINNATI — At the top of the list of themes coming from our first 20 minutes on the record with Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin in six months was the sound of a man looking to be aggressive in the early waves of free agency to address the club’s roster.

Beyond the grand theme, a number of interesting and potentially telling quotes emerged from the shadows of the Zoom interview.

Here’s a look at the six that stood out most and why they could be meaningful in understanding the direction of the roster and franchise during these critical next two months.

Tobin, asked to assess his roster

Tobin: When I look at our team, I’m excited. I think we’ve got one of the premier, best young quarterbacks in the game, and we’re going to do everything we can to build around him and give him the opportunity to really shine and show what he can do. And so it’s going to start with him. And then beyond him, I think we’ve got a good receiving corps. I think we’ve got a young, exciting receiver. I think we’ve got a consistent, proven veteran in Tyler Boyd. It’d be good, it’s going to be great, to have Joe Mixon back in the lineup. You know, I think we’ve got a good tight end group that, you know, once it’s healthy again, it’s really every position was hit by the injury bug. So it’ll be good to get a lot of these guys back. Defensively, it’ll be great to see Trae Waynes on the field there. You know, we haven’t gotten that yet. D.J. Reader coming back off of injury, that’s something to build around. We really like our young linebacking corps. I think it’s really going to come into its own in the second year. I think we’ve got a great safety tandem that I’m excited with, and we’ve got to fill in some spots, for sure. But I see a lot to get excited about. And it’s No. 1, seeing the guys that didn’t get to play much actually get on the field and produce at the level that we know that can produce.

Deconstructed: Two important facts stand out here in talking about the roster. They aren’t secrets, but considering what went down last offseason with the offensive line, they’re meaningful.

Tobin opened with Burrow, offering the expected effusive praise, but followed with: “(W)e’re going to do everything we can to build around him and give him the opportunity to really shine and show what he can do. And so it’s going to start with him.”

For those screaming about prioritizing the offense over the defense, perhaps this was the most significant clue in the direction the team is leaning. (It’s also the correct one, from my seat.) Start all endeavors with building around the quarterback and start filling in the rest from there. What does that mean in actual practice?

Well, then, there’s the second part. Tobin went through all the reasons he’s excited about the roster, and outside of getting Reader back, nobody in the trenches entered the conversation. It’s no secret, but finding offensive line help — and not leaving it to chance in the NFL Draft and subject to growing pains — sure would check both boxes off this evaluation of needs. Yes, Tobin sounds anxious to work in free agency, but he also sounds like somebody interested in knowing the current crop of offensive line candidates isn’t it. That would be an important deviation from last year, when Tobin and everyone inside the organization kept telling us over and over again they were comfortable with their offensive line.

Tobin on whether their opinion of valuing guard has changed due to the evolution of how the game is played and what happened with Burrow

Tobin: Again, I was as heartbroken as everybody when that happened. That’s football; it can happen. You get breakdowns, you get guys in awkward positions and all of a sudden you get the devastating injury. We all hated to see that as much as our fans hated to see that. The good news is with Joe, what I’ve seen around here is he’s attacking it full speed and looks great and so it’s been very positive seeing him fight back. It looks very positive for the future and for this coming season for Joe. In terms of the guard position, it is something we’ll look at. We had a lot of guys playing and with the O-line in general with injuries, we had a lot of different combinations in there. When you’re switching your combinations in there, it’s normally not a recipe for success. We’ll have new faces in there. We’ll have guys that have another year of development under their hat. Hopefully, a healthier group that stays healthy. And when we get five guys playing together, hopefully they can play together a long time. It’s a group that we’re focused on, we’re always focused on it, but that group, in particular, will be an important group for us.

Deconstructed: You want to know why former offensive line coach Jim Turner isn’t here anymore? Look no further than one line inside this answer: “when you’re switching your combinations in there, it’s normally not a recipe for success.” Switching combinations and trying players at different spots was not solely due to injury last year (or the year before that). Giving players reps and opportunities at multiple spots and quickly benching underperforming players was a staple of Turner’s style.

Beyond that, though, this served as more ammunition suggesting a willingness to go after the guard position. At no point did Tobin talk about attacking the top of the market, but obviously there will be new blood at the position and a focus of what sounds like an aggressive free agency. Does that mean go buy your Joe Thuney leaked replica jersey? Not necessarily, but it does speak to a desire to upgrade significantly at that position despite it being an afterthought in years past.

Question about what to do with guys with little to no tape in the draft process

Tobin: In terms of players who haven’t played in a year, that is somewhat concerning. You don’t know how their developments have been. There are players in this draft who have really only played one year of college football, and then they didn’t play this year. You’re projecting, it’s probably a bigger projection than when you studied a guy that’s played three years of college football. That’s our job, to project them into our league into our system and scheme and into our division and what we do. It’s a year like no other, and you could call it less information. It’s just different information at this point, and by the time we get to drafting in late April that we’ll have everything we need to feel comfortable with.

Deconstructed: The most high-profile draft decision for the Bengals this year could come down to Oregon offensive tackle Penei Sewell and LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. Both were opt-outs last year. Sewell has two years of tape as a starter for the Ducks and Chase two years, but the one dominant championship season, with Burrow.

This comment points out a trepidation with players who opted out last year. The unknowns of their development and limited tape makes them a riskier pick in comparison with a player who went through the standard three years of college football. For an executive who often valued doubles over home runs in the draft game, this comment stood out to me. Opt-out players position themselves more as home-run swings this year compared with the higher floor of those more known quantities. This does not mean the team hates Sewell, Chase or any other opt-out player, but that there’s a real question in the conversation surrounding those players inside the Bengals’ front office.

Question about Geno Atkins, how much the injury affected his play last year and how he fits into future plans

Tobin: Most of his season was impacted. The Geno we saw heading into the season during camp was the old Geno and he had the issue, he battled through. I have nothing but high regard for Geno Atkins. He’s a homegrown product, really a success story and a guy I have loved watching grow over the years. He gave us what he had last year but it was not near what he’s used to and what we are used to seeing.

(How does Geno fit into the equation this season?)

Tobin: We’ll see as we go. We’ll see what if any of the room we need to do some other things. It’s a fluid situation. I don’t have any updates on it right now. I know we have high regard and high esteem and he’s been a Bengal his whole career. We’ll see if we can keep that going.

Deconstructed: Reading between the lines here, Tobin stated the obvious aspect of this situation. They have to see how much the $10 million they can put toward clearing cap space will be needed. There’s little doubt it will be needed when you consider all the holes the Bengals have to fill. There was no hesitancy displayed here in exhausting all options with one of the best draft picks in team history. Of course, there’s a ton of respect there and the Bengals would love to keep Atkins if money didn’t matter, but admitting the money matters in this situation probably tells the majority of the story here. Letting Atkins go has always been the move that made sense financially even if you do chalk up his 2020 clunker to the shoulder injury. The value of $10 million on this market far outweighs what Atkins could bring at age 33.

Question on the challenges of evaluating the free-agent market with so many potential cap casualties

Tobin: Yeah, we’re going to do a deep dive into the teams that are going to have to make moves to just be in compliance. It doesn’t take much thought to look at their highest-paid players. They’re either going to redo or they’re going to ask them to take less or they’re going to cut them loose. We have an awareness of the other 31 teams, the situations they have and the players that might be in play there. And then we don’t operate in a silo. We talk to other teams. We have a pretty good idea of maybe some guys who have been floated on the trade market. We want to keep as much capital as we can. We think our team needs the capital. I don’t anticipate trading away a bunch of picks this year. But if there’s something that makes sense as we go, we’ll see. If guys are turned loose, we will have had the evaluation done. We’ll be ready to make a call on them and put a price tag on them for us.

Deconstructed: Within here, Tobin addresses a concept broached when trying to fix problems through trade. Maybe the most valuable chip on the market this season is draft picks with so many teams needing that cheap labor. The idea of getting great value on proven players in exchange for a lesser draft pick would have to drive that market. Tobin basically shut that down for the Bengals. So, I guess he won’t be going for my idea to offer a third-round pick to the Rams for right tackle Rob Havenstein.

Question about the primary reasons for bringing back head coach Zac Taylor and his coaching staff

Tobin: We think stability will help us. We would have loved to have played with a lot of our key pieces this year. We see a trend in the right direction. We haven’t won enough games. I don’t have to sit here and tell you that. You already know that. You recited that. And everyone in this building knows that. But we were trying to do what we feel is best for the immediate future of the Cincinnati Bengals and that future is now. We think we’ve got a quarterback that is trending in the right direction and we think he’s got a comfort level with what we’re doing on that side of the ball.

Then defensively, it was a very hard lift this year with the injuries we had. We ended up playing with a group of defensive tackles that gave us everything they had, but none of them were with us in the offseason. It was a whole new group and so when you bring new guys in sometimes it takes a while for the group to jell. My hat’s off to them because we had a lot of guys come in, play right away and give us good snaps. But it was a hard lift to get the unit playing as one because of the pieces that kept going out.

Deconstructed: We haven’t talked to anybody in the front office since the decision to bring back Taylor and all his coordinators despite the disappointing 2020 season, so it felt necessary for Tobin to at least offer insight to the reasoning for the decision. It followed the lines that made sense at the time. Injuries were the scapegoat. If Burrow plays the second half of the season, the Bengals probably win a fair share of those games and are about where you thought they would be in this rebuild. Second, the argument is the defense was destroyed by the defensive line injuries and nobody could have coached that group to success.

As Tobin stated to open his 20 minutes on Monday, this franchise is all about the potential of Burrow and building around him. They recognize that. That means keeping with the positive path they saw this staff put in place with Burrow. They provided a comfortable scheme, relationships and production that suggested he could live up to the top-pick potential. They weren’t going to cut that short. And they weren’t going to put the defensive problems on the plate of a coordinator trying to get street free agents to make plays to close out games. And with that, we can tie a final bow around the 2020 season blame-game conversation.

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Bengals1
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Re: Bengals Related News & Notes

Post by Bengals1 » Tue Mar 09, 2021 10:39 pm

Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero)
The #Bengals are re-signing QB Brandon Allen to a one-year deal, per source. Allen made five starts last season, knows Zac Taylor’s offense well and now returns to back up and help mentor Joe Burrow.
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Exile
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Re: Bengals Related News & Notes

Post by Exile » Fri Mar 12, 2021 2:30 pm

Did you guys hear about the tweet from Burrow? I guess Chad Johnson tweeted:

"I need to get with Joe Burrow & Odell Beckham this off-season and give them a 6 month meal prep plan that will prevent any further injuries."

Joe tweets back: "Sorry chad I can't eat McDonald's every day"

That's some good stuff--it's nice when your franchise QB knows his Bengals history.

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Re: Bengals Related News & Notes

Post by Exile » Fri Mar 12, 2021 2:31 pm

I'd also be curious what kind of diet will prevent you from blowing out your knee when your o-line gets blown up, but I'm not the nutritional expert that Ochocinco is.

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