If you were around the site yesterday, you saw that the Bengals signed former University of Kentucky stand out DE/DT Ventrell Jenkins. Chris did a nice highlight of the signee yesterday. Other news from yesterday afternoon, if you didn't make it, Carson Palmer is hopeful to play in the final preseason game against the Colts next week. He did some dropping back yesterday, but did not practice according to Joe Reedy.
Oh, and if you watch Chad's ustream show, he said he'd be streaming live from the walk through today. He didn't give any details as to time, but he may tweet about it. Here's a link to the Ocho Cinco Show in case you're interested.
Other Bengals and NFL related notes from around the web:
- John Eradi writes that Brian Leonard will be played to his strenghts in the Bengals offense this year. I highly recommend you check this article out for some nice explanatory quotes from Leonard and Bob Bratkowski. The Bengals like him because he can catch, and he can run. I'm not sure how that makes him unique, but he was a second round pick only a few years ago.
- There are 5 locks to make the team at WR this year: Ochocinco, Coles, Henry, Caldwell, Simpson. The Bengals will probably carry a 6th for special teams and depth purposes. Geoff Hobson talked to Quan Cosby, one of the guys vying for that spot. Which of the "depth" guys do you think we should keep? He also talked to the other resident Longhorn, Cedrick Benson about his preseason progress. Benson is one guy itching to have Palmer return to the field; he said New England dropped a safety in the box frequently last week. Will the running game look better when Carson returns? Do other teams respect our passing game?
- Keeping up with the ever-infuriating Andre Smith storyline, James Walker took a mailbag question on contract talks. Meanwhile, Josh Lobdell of examiner.com hops on the Alvin Keels bandwagon, berating Mike Brown for not offering our first round pick a fair contract.
- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jeff Gordon talked to Chase Coffman about his opportunity, in the wake of injuries, to push for some significant playing time. I want Coffman to win offensive ROY and revolutionize the Tight End position. Reasonable, right?
- Langston Moore has completed his graduate studies at Rod Marinelli's defensive line school in Detroit. "There's so much stuff that you learn from [Marinelli] and the pressure he puts on you to be a great defensive lineman and not just be out there taking up space." Geoff Hobson's article on Moore is optimistic that he can be a serviceable backup.
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ESPN's Page 2's G(r)e(gg) Easterbrook did his AFC preview. He praises last year's defense, then turns around to ask if it's unreasonable to think the Bengals offense will be terrible again. I think that's an outrageous thought. This guy clearly has not been watching preseason games. Even the picture of Cincinnati-style chili that accompanies the article looks bad. Can I hate on ESPN now?
- Aaron Schatz over at Football Outsiders wonders if competitive balance in the NFL has declined. He has a nifty charted backed up by their DVOA statistic to answer the question. I feel like we've seen some of the same teams in the playoffs out of the AFC the past few years, but Arizona went to the Superbowl last year. Your thoughts?
- Tom Brady said that getting pummeled by Robert Geathers last Thursday "felt good." I guess Geathers needs to get his weight up.