Several position group unknowns that I'm anxious to have answered and of course my thoughts:)

by biggie22 on Oct 23, 2011 1:14 AM EDT

1. The wide receiver position, the unkown being Jerome Simpson - What's going to happen with his legal issues??? My thoughts are that since no charges have been filed he's probally going to be OK. Assuming this is the case, WR should be a position of strength for this team going forward, I'd resign Simpson ahead of Caldwell and let Andre walk after the season. Next year, I see our starting WR positions consisting of AJ Green, Jerome Simpson, and Jordan Shipley. Ryan Whalen and Andrew Hawkins can be the back ups to the slot position and I think Arman Binns will be ready to move up and will actually be a great fit to back up on the outside for AJ and Jerome.

2. The Linebacker postion, the unkown is who will we be able to resign and how will Keith Rivers and Muckelroy respond from there respective injuries. I'm optimisc so I say they both respond well and come back strong. I think Rey gets resigned to a long term extension and we aleady have Thomas Howard locked up for another year. I actually think we loose Manny Lawson and Dan Scuta but figure out a way to extend Brandon Johnson. Next year our LB corps will be similiar to this year, Rey in the middle but Muckeroy will now be the one backing him up instead of Skuta. Thomas Howard and Keith Rivers will be the other starting LBs, although Donte Moch will see a lot more playing time. DeQuin Evans along with another mid round draft choice that we take in this upcoming draft will end up completing the LB corp on our 53 man roster.

3. The Defensive backfield has lots of unkowns!! This is by far the hardest position group to predict because there are so many wild cards!!! Kelly Jennings, Pacman Jones and Taylor Mays are all huge wildcards for this team!! If they can all get healthy and Zimmer can use his magic to get them to produce everything will change because all three are extremely fast, athletic, and have huge upsides. Reggie Nelson and Cris Crocker also need to become more consistent!!! My thoughts on this group are going to be a little vague b/c I need more time to see how things pan out the rest of this year, but my initial feeling are that Gibril Wilson, Cris Crocker Jeromy Miles and Morgan Trent are all gone after this year and we end up drafting several DBs in the first 3 rounds (CB RD 1 and safety RD 3). Again, this could very easily change based on invidual players performance during the 2nd half of the season .

4. The Offensive line unkowns are will Andre Smith get a new deal and how early and how many guards will we take in the 2012 draft, 1 or 2. My feelings are we will get a new deal done for Andre and we will take just one guard early in the draft who will eventually replace Bobby but not in 2012 because he will be replacing Livings. We will actually keep Bobbie around for one more year and allow Boling time to develop and build up some more strength so he can be the one to replace Bobbie in 2013.

5. The Running backs - The only running back unkown is who replaces Ced in 2012 b/c I do not see him playing here next year. My thoughts are we will NOT trade up for Richardson and he will be gone before we draft, therefore I think we end up taking Chris Polk in the 2nd round.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.

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Trade Rivers or cut him

He isn’t worth the money. Also should draft another WR to compete with Simpson in the middle to late rounds.

by redrifle14 on Oct 23, 2011 2:24 AM EDT reply actions

3rd option....

Restructure his contract, make it incentive laden and keep him for depth. Besides, I wanna see him get payback on Whines Hard. And I’d love to see him in stripes when he does it.

"Shiny. Let's be bad guys."

by KentuckianaBrowncoat on Oct 23, 2011 1:01 PM EDT up reply actions

^ This

by DTFCPDX on Oct 23, 2011 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't see the payback on Ward happening anytime soon.

When was the last time Rivers actually hit someone hard? Definitely not since his jaw was broken, and I can’t particularly remember any before that either.

by sexsalad on Oct 23, 2011 8:31 PM EDT up reply actions

isn't worth the money?

I think we’ve already paid the guy most of his contract… according to rotoworld Keith is only lined up to get paid no more than $2 million over the next three years. In NFL terms, thats a steal

by The Dealio on Oct 24, 2011 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions

I love how everyone thinks the solution to Boling is to just stick him in a weight room

its not like he came from a D2 school with an inept strength and conditioning program in which he has a lot to improve. He was at Georgia where I’m sure they had an elite program. I’m sure he can get a little bigger, but putting on more muscle mass isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Moisture is the essense of wetness, and wetness is the essense of beauty.

by Blue Steel on Oct 23, 2011 9:57 AM EDT reply actions

His issue is savvy and technique more than mass.

Smart kid.. he’ll get it. At worst his career will be as a prototypical LG backup who can sub as a C in a pinch.

by Cry on Oct 24, 2011 3:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Basically the new Evan Mathis

by DTFCPDX on Oct 24, 2011 3:30 PM EDT up reply actions

except Evan Mathis is a starter now on the "dream team"

The Curse of Bo Jackson: Jan 13th,1991- present day

by TruWhoDey on Oct 25, 2011 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree except for the Boling issue

He is a natural left guard and we saw how much better he plays on the left than his does on the right. The footwork and hand work are completely different. He should stay on the left and the Bengals need to draft a natural right guard to replace Bobbie. There use to be this thought that if a stud left tackle was there that Whit could move back to left guard but I think with Whit being the top left tackle in the league, that discussion is dead; however, I still think having Andre at right guard if a stud right tackle is available is still an option.

I think the Bengals draft the best available in the first round and draft need from then on out. At point they are drafting, it is a good bet the best available will be a CB or an O-lineman. I say best available, b/c if something happens and a guy with top 5 value falls to the Bengals they need to take him. Whether that is a RB or a WR.

by WOOD98 on Oct 24, 2011 12:38 AM EDT reply actions

I think Whit and Andre should both stay exactly where they are right now

it took Andre 3 years to finally get to where he is now at RT. I really don’t want to see him spend another 3 transitioning to guard.

Moisture is the essense of wetness, and wetness is the essense of beauty.

by Blue Steel on Oct 24, 2011 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

Those guys seem to be handling themselves just fine where they are

by The Dealio on Oct 24, 2011 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions

As I said, Whit should stay at LT

The talk of moving him to LG is dead with his emergence as the premier LT in the AFC. Andre, on the other hand, isn’t that set in stone. RT to RG in this offense is not a huge leap b/c only the LG is required to pull and the RG doesn’t make anymore plays in space than the RT. I guess what I’m saying is that if a natural, stud RT is available and there are not any stud RG’s available, this is a better option than drafting someone too high or trying to convert a LT or LG to a RG as Bobbie’s replacement. The footwork from the left to the right is too drastically different. Ask Andre. Its taken him time to figure it out. We don’t have the luxury of time with Bobbie b/c of his age. (No offense big man!)

by WOOD98 on Oct 27, 2011 2:13 AM EDT up reply actions

Concerns and Non Issues.

Simpson is doing pretty well right now. He really needs to take full benefit from teams now focused on AJ. Caldwell is a lost cause. He’ll never be more than a decent #4. This year we will continue to add Gresham into the fold and that makes things much easier for Dalton. Next year, we need to address this and get a true #2 WR.

Rivers? What is going on with him? Can’t he play with a claw? He has been solid when he plays, but I’m getting tired of him missing huge chunks of the season due to injury. He’s on the outside looking in, and may not even be around next year at all unless he can contribute this year. We know Marvin doesn’t care who you are if you don’t contribute.

D-backs. Talk to me after we see Adam Jone’s back in. He may be getting a lot of picks when he gets on the field. Safeties for us always confuses me. Are the hurt guys coming back? and if they do, are they going to kick ass? I hope we don’t need to draft early to get a serviceable safety.

O-line. Serviceable for this year: Check. Road-grading ability: Needs improvement. I would bet that Boling at LG is his best position, but he is a great backup who will continue to improve until he becomes a starter. I am not worried about him. Bobbie amazes me that he still is so good. But RG is our #1 need in the draft. It may not be our #1 pick, but it better be in the first 3 picks for us. Best yet would be to get us a true Center/Guard. I don’t want to watch if Cook goes down this year.

RB. Lets see what we have this week without Cedric Benson. I’d like to see Leonard/Scott/Peerman all get a series, and then repeat as needed. After the half, make adjustments, create plan based on what’s working, and run the score up like the little freight trains that could.

Wrong! Conan! What is best in life?

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

by UpStateMike on Oct 24, 2011 12:44 PM EDT reply actions

largely agree upstate

except for RB- i think you give Scott and Peerman the Benson/Scott treatment and keep Leonard as the 3rd down back this week- while he may be able to carry a load, he’s too valuable on 3rd down to risk as a 20+ carry guy week in and week out….meaning keep him in the role he OWNS this week, b/c i don’t see them making him a feature back even if he did go nuts this wknd.

The Curse of Bo Jackson: Jan 13th,1991- present day

by TruWhoDey on Oct 25, 2011 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions