2021 Offensive Line

[theJ]

13 hours ago, Johnny Nix said:

I have the same starting lineup prediction as you guys. I think Hopkins starts the season on PUP, and if Price improves I could honestly see them cutting Hopkins and moving forward with Price and Hill. Remember Pollack drafted Price. 

I really doubt they cut Hopkins.  Not because the contract doesn't allow it, but because he's a good versatile lineman.  Being able to play both C and G well makes him valuable.

[theJ]

13 hours ago, Johnny Nix said:

it honestly will be interesting to see what happens with Mike Jordan. He is still so young and it really wasn’t fair for them to throw him into the fire so soon. 

The being young thing didn't kill him.  It was having his formative years with Jim Turner as his coach that maybe killed his career.  That guy is lineman cancer.

[Beck Bristow]

43 minutes ago, theJ said:

I really doubt they cut Hopkins.  Not because the contract doesn't allow it, but because he's a good versatile lineman.  Being able to play both C and G well makes him valuable.

Is he? He's never been very good before his recent run at center.

[THE DUKE]

1 minute ago, theJ said:

The being young thing didn't kill him.  It was having his formative years with Jim Turner as his coach that maybe killed his career.  That guy is lineman cancer.

That's probably the single biggest fear of mine about Zac Taylor.  That he thought hiring Jim Turner was a good idea.

[Who-dey]

1 hour ago, THE DUKE said:

That's probably the single biggest fear of mine about Zac Taylor.  That he thought hiring Jim Turner was a good idea.

I really don’t think Zac had a lot of options.  Seemed to me like he was begging guys to come coach with him.  Not sure why he got rid of Pollack.  
 

I don’t see Hubert on anyone’s DL list.  Is it because you project him as a LB?

[THE DUKE]

2 minutes ago, Who-dey said:

I really don’t think Zac had a lot of options.  Seemed to me like he was begging guys to come coach with him.  Not sure why he got rid of Pollack.  
 

I don’t see Hubert on anyone’s DL list.  Is it because you project him as a LB?

I get not having options, but then he kept him after a bad 2019 and let Callahan's dad go to Cleveland.  And if I understand correctly, Pollack asked to go because he thought a new leadsership staff would want their guy and didn't want to be there for potentially only 1 year because he had 1 year on his deal left.

I didn't add Hubert because I don't think he beats out Kareem even if we keep 5 edges, and I don't think he'll stick as a LB either.  7th rd picks end up on the practice squad all the time.  Unless he's a special teams stud in the preseason, his odds to make the roster are long.

[theJ]

5 hours ago, Beck Bristow said:

Is he? He's never been very good before his recent run at center.

I don't have access to PFF, but i thought i saw somewhere that his grades at G were actually better.  Plus, posting grades in the 60's with Jim Turner running the group is good to me.  

[sparky151]

Hopkins had the Bengals highest O-line score in 2019 but he was still the 26th rated center in the league.

[INbengalfan]

1 hour ago, theJ said:

I don't have access to PFF, but i thought i saw somewhere that his grades at G were actually better.  Plus, posting grades in the 60's with Jim Turner running the group is good to me.  

I thought t was the opposite.  He sucked at guard but was a passable C

[theJ]

1 hour ago, INbengalfan said:

I thought t was the opposite.  He sucked at guard but was a passable C

Could be, my memory isn't the greatest.

[theJ]

2 hours ago, sparky151 said:

Hopkins had the Bengals highest O-line score in 2019 but he was still the 26th rated center in the league.

Not shocking with that boat anchor named Jim Turner.

 

I honestly can't put much stock in individual performances the last few years.  Joe Goodberry did a nice job of summarizing individual performances with and without Turner for various guys that played in Cincy and left, or played outside Cincy and joined up here while Turner was here.  Every single of them took a dive of 10-20 points on their PFF rating with Turner.  Every single one recovered their rating after leaving.

[THE DUKE]

Listening to the Locked On Bengals podcast, apparently, Paul Alexander measured Carman's arms at 33.25", the medical combine measured Carman's arms as 33.25" and the second Clemson pro day they measured Carman's arms as 33.25".  Only at Clemson's first pro day did Carman's arms get measured as 32.5"

D'Ante Smith is supposedly already up to 305 as well after being as low as 283, then was 294 at the Senior Bowl.  He apparently had issues keeping weight on during Covid protocols, which is a better problem than guys ballooning up in weight when they can't work out like they want.

[SmittyBacall]

15 minutes ago, THE DUKE said:

Listening to the Locked On Bengals podcast, apparently, Paul Alexander measured Carman's arms at 33.25", the medical combine measured Carman's arms as 33.25" and the second Clemson pro day they measured Carman's arms as 33.25".  Only at Clemson's first pro day did Carman's arms get measured as 32.5"

D'Ante Smith is supposedly already up to 305 as well after being as low as 283, then was 294 at the Senior Bowl.  He apparently had issues keeping weight on during Covid protocols, which is a better problem than guys ballooning up in weight when they can't work out like they want.

Yep. I still think our plan for Carman is to develop him as a long term guard, but he meets our tackle thresholds as well. He’s got some versatility to him. 

Also, it always blows my mind how some athletes like Smith, who have the adequate frame to do so, have trouble keeping weight on. Like, is their metabolism so wickedly fast that it doesn’t matter how much they eat, their weight is capped no matter what? Crazy.

I really have high hopes for Smith as a long term tackle. Some reps he had at the Senior Bowl were very impressive (thought I haven’t watched his game tape). Especially his ability to anchor, given his weight limits. Dude has vines for arms.

[sparky151]

For big guys who have trouble keeping weight on, it's usually not that they burn huge amounts of calories but that their appetite doesn't require that many and they have to force themselves to overeat.  Thus, there are plenty of former linemen who have dropped 50 lbs or more the first year of retirement by simply stopping eating when they're full. 

[THE DUKE]

Heard on the Locked On Bengals podcast today that at Mini-Camp D'Ante Smith was now up to 311