What will we do about the Oline?

[Beck Bristow]

35 minutes ago, INbengalfan said:

Hopefully Smith continues to develop.  Plus that whole draft thing in April, as the team has nine picks, based on comp formula projections (extra 4th) and the 7th rounder from the Price trade.

Yeah, not wanting to ditch Smith entirely, just don't want him in a first guy off the bench situation. He always was a developmental guy. Cincinnati always likes to go into the draft with defacto starters figured out, so they aren't locked into a position. I assume this will be the same.

Are we sure about the comp pick? Last I knew it was tied up in John Ross getting 25% of the snaps. A line he did not hit.

[theJ]

20 hours ago, ochocinco4pres said:

I saw a few tweets last night going over the athletic profile of guys we draft or have on our line compared to the elite lineman. We tend to have guys that are very poor athletes with shorter arms. Where as the top of the line guys are all physical freaks. Maybe they look at that this offseason. Who knows. 

The Bengals have a type lol

[INbengalfan]

7 minutes ago, Beck Bristow said:

Yeah, not wanting to ditch Smith entirely, just don't want him in a first guy off the bench situation. He always was a developmental guy. Cincinnati always likes to go into the draft with defacto starters figured out, so they aren't locked into a position. I assume this will be the same.

Are we sure about the comp pick? Last I knew it was tied up in John Ross getting 25% of the snaps. A line he did not hit.

I forgot about Ross having to enter the pool in order to lock in Jackson for a fourth, if that's how they do it.  I never am 100% since the league keeps the procedure shrouded.

[Johnny Nix]

I just have a hard time seeing the Bengals go towards the draft again for OL unless it’s a Center. They already have their developmental G and T, this needs to be a total rebuild in Free Agency. Question #1 is Jonah Williams our LT for the next 5 years, because if they feel he isn’t, you better be going after Armstead 💯 

[Beck Bristow]

1 hour ago, Johnny Nix said:

I just have a hard time seeing the Bengals go towards the draft again for OL unless it’s a Center. They already have their developmental G and T, this needs to be a total rebuild in Free Agency. Question #1 is Jonah Williams our LT for the next 5 years, because if they feel he isn’t, you better be going after Armstead 💯 

I would be really surprised if they don't think Jonah is. We'll see. I'm sure we'll draft lineman.  Hopefully it's just depth though.

[ochocinco4pres]

16 hours ago, Johnny Nix said:

I will be absolutely floored if they land Terron Armstead

Absolutely agreed. Same thought I had about getting Thuney last offseason. I just dont think they pay for him. 

[ochocinco4pres]

2 hours ago, theJ said:

The Bengals have a type lol

Yes they do, and sadly it is not a very successful type haha 

[ochocinco4pres]

1 hour ago, Johnny Nix said:

I just have a hard time seeing the Bengals go towards the draft again for OL unless it’s a Center. They already have their developmental G and T, this needs to be a total rebuild in Free Agency. Question #1 is Jonah Williams our LT for the next 5 years, because if they feel he isn’t, you better be going after Armstead 💯 

I think it would be malpractice to do so. In the past the bengals have gone into drafts with glaring needs and have seen teams jump them to get that guy. We cannot go into this years draft as we did last year desperate for starting level O lineman. They have to spend on quality guys in FA. It isn't going to be Scherff or Armstead. But that is why a Daniels or Norwell could make sense at G. Moses does make sense for a RT. I just wish they would attack it and get an elite level lineman to go with those quality guys like Daniels or Norwell. 

[Beck Bristow]

2 minutes ago, ochocinco4pres said:

I think it would be malpractice to do so. In the past the bengals have gone into drafts with glaring needs and have seen teams jump them to get that guy. We cannot go into this years draft as we did last year desperate for starting level O lineman. They have to spend on quality guys in FA. It isn't going to be Scherff or Armstead. But that is why a Daniels or Norwell could make sense at G. Moses does make sense for a RT. I just wish they would attack it and get an elite level lineman to go with those quality guys like Daniels or Norwell. 

Hard to spend $25 million on one guy when you need to sign 4. Even with the cap space we have. 

[ochocinco4pres]

34 minutes ago, Beck Bristow said:

Hard to spend $25 million on one guy when you need to sign 4. Even with the cap space we have. 

Agreed. I would like to see Connor Williams get considered from Dallas too. Could be a very good fit. 

[Beck Bristow]

Can anyone explain to me why Hopkins doesn't pass block ever? It's insane to me how often he's standing looking around at the end of a play when QB gets hit.

[THE DUKE]

50 minutes ago, Beck Bristow said:

Can anyone explain to me why Hopkins doesn't pass block ever? It's insane to me how often he's standing looking around at the end of a play when QB gets hit.

First half of the super bowl he did a good job doubling on Donald, but once the Rams figured that out and brought their 5 man front looks Hopkins looked lost.

[sparky151]

Last year's line featured average NFL players at LT, RT (while Reiff played), and LG. We had poor play from the C and RG positions all season. We really need to get to average at every position and it would be nice to have at least 1 standout on the line. 

The team will certainly exercise the 5th year option on Williams. It seems likely Pollak will return as coach. 

Although there will be better players available, the team seems likely to re-sign Spain. We can certainly afford to get a top flight center and right guard and right tackle. Maybe something like Bozeman from the Ravens, Daniels from the Bears, and Moses from the Jets. We could maybe get all 3 for 25 mil then save 6 by cutting Hopkins. Moses is average while Bozeman and Daniels are above average. If we fill our other needs in free agency we could draft BPA and that might be Zion Johnson or Green who could be Spain's replacement. 

I doubt the Bengals do this however based on decades of fandom. Bengals keep making category errors like trying to convert college tackles to NFL guards and the sunk cost fallacy of hoping some project gets better if they get him a lot of snaps. That approach to improving Jordan got Burrow knee capped. We have a lot of young O-linemen on the roster but none of them should be counted on for more than a backup role.

 

[INbengalfan]

12 hours ago, sparky151 said:

Last year's line featured average NFL players at LT, RT (while Reiff played), and LG. We had poor play from the C and RG positions all season. We really need to get to average at every position and it would be nice to have at least 1 standout on the line. 

The team will certainly exercise the 5th year option on Williams. It seems likely Pollak will return as coach. 

Although there will be better players available, the team seems likely to re-sign Spain. We can certainly afford to get a top flight center and right guard and right tackle. Maybe something like Bozeman from the Ravens, Daniels from the Bears, and Moses from the Jets. We could maybe get all 3 for 25 mil then save 6 by cutting Hopkins. Moses is average while Bozeman and Daniels are above average. If we fill our other needs in free agency we could draft BPA and that might be Zion Johnson or Green who could be Spain's replacement. 

I doubt the Bengals do this however based on decades of fandom. Bengals keep making category errors like trying to convert college tackles to NFL guards and the sunk cost fallacy of hoping some project gets better if they get him a lot of snaps. That approach to improving Jordan got Burrow knee capped. We have a lot of young O-linemen on the roster but none of them should be counted on for more than a backup role.

 

They aren't giving up on Carman yet, and I believe they should stick him at LG and battle it out with Spain for starting.  Another thing to consider is if they can upgrade LT in a trade or splash signing, which would free up Jonah for either RG or RT, depending on what else they would do.

 

For this exercise, let's imagine that we miraculously signed Orlando Brown, which is close to 2% realistic.

LT  Brown

LG Spain/Carman

C  sign a free agent.  Might have to be a cheaper guy like Brown from Detroit.

RG sign James Daniels or target Kenyon Green or Zion Johnson in the draft

RT  Jonah

It is doable, but will require some serious cash, meaning we focus the draft on other positions.

[ochocinco4pres]

I agree I am not ready to 100% give up on Carman. But I don't think we should enter next year with him penciled in as a starter. I think a battle with a guy like Spain is the way to play it. I dont want to draft a 5-6th round G and have him battle Carman for a starting job.