My Off-Season Thoughts
by jim0ijk on Jan 16, 2012 11:46 AM EST
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My Off-Season Thoughts
Defensive performance:
I thought our Defense was solid over-all. I think that right now we lack impact players on who will get close to double digit sacks, or get interceptions consistently.
Defensive Line:
I think our defensive line is good, but we need some guys to develop to the point they can beat one on one match-ups consistently, especially Dunlop and Johnson on the edge. We should add depth to the line through the draft, but keep the core intact if possible.
Linebackers:
I thought Maualuga's performance in the middle was superb until the ankle injury. He shut down Jacksonville at the end of the game almost single-handedly. After the ankle injury, he was slow. This is his second ankle injury in his career, and we need to keep an eye on that. Thomas Howard was one of our top performers on defense and he makes Rivers expendable. Manny Lawson was solid at the SLB. Skuta and Brandon Johnson provided solid depth.
Secondary:
Cris Crocker was one of the two weakest links on the team. I think the team knew this going into the season, which is why they drafted Sands and traded for Mays. They were gaining confidence in Mays towards the end of the season, but he was hampered by injury. Nelson was the high point in the secondary. I do not grade our corners as harshly as some. I think that Hall, Clements, Jones, and Jennings were solid but unspectacular.
Offensive Performance.:
Our Offense was mediocre. We need to improve in every aspect except the big pass play.
Rush Offense: Both Scott and Benson were underwhelming. They did not seem to able to get a tough yard when necessary, nor kill games at the end. Benson's best quality is his durability, which is a good attribute, but we need more. Some will blame the offensive line, which needs to improve, but I look at what Demarco Murray did in Dallas, and I see that the running back is a key ingredient. Dallas played their best ball when Murray was running wild.
Pass Offense: Our pass offense was also mediocre. Dalton needs to improve next year for us to compete for the division. With our receiving corps, there is no reason he can't throw 25TDs or more and 10 or less INTs. AJ Green is phenomenal. Simpson needs to come back to the ball on short routes especially hooks. He needs to understand this is the NFL and he is playing against better corners than he did in college. Otherwise, he was number 12 in yards among number 2 wide receivers in the league. A lot of people want to replace Simpson with, but I think that Simpson with improvement from his first year starting, is solid. I think that Whalen, Hawkins, and Shipley all played well in their roles. Gresham is a work in progress as well, but progressing nicely. Lee was adequate. Leonard was spectacular in his role, which could be expanded some. The other running backs were abysmal in the passing game.
Special Teams:
Special teams were solid all around. Hopefully Nugent gets over his late season slump. Tate was solid but I don't think he did enough to warrant his position as a return specialist.
How do we improve?
First off, I am not a splash free agency guy. I look at teams in similar markets(Indy, Pittsburgh, Green Bay) that have succeeded and I don't see splash free agents there. Our best free agents were not splash guys. Bobby Williams and Cedric Benson were our best recent signings, and there wasn't a huge market for either.
What positions can be improved?
Nate livings is probably our weakest starter, followed by Crocker. Neither should be re-signed, not even for depth. I am not a fan of either Scott or Benson and I think we need to replace both. We need a starting corner; however, we can draft a talented guy who is one year away. Bobbie Williams is old, and suffered a season ending injury, will he be able to recover?
What positions can be replaced from within?
This is my biggest question mark. Is Mays ready to start after learning the system for a season? He was a late pick-up and was not in training camp, so he had a learning curve. If so, he make drafting Barron a waste. Is Boling ready to be the LG? The coaching staff wanted Boling to start at left guard this year, but that got derailed by the Williams suspension. Remember that he was getting first team starts at both LG and RG during the preseason, even though the coaching staff knew he needed to start the season at RG, they wanted to know if he could replace Livings. Unfortunately, we still don't know. Is Otis Hudson ready to start at RG? Alexander said he was the most improved lineman and he was drafted to replace Williams. We know that our future running back is not on our roster. Moch also remains a question mark.
Who should we re-sign?
Nelson long-term. Lawson for one year. Simpson for 3-4 years. Nugent long-term. I don't think we can re-sign Collins, but we should if we can. Brandon Johnson, Fanene, and Pressley. I would re-sign Jennings and Jones if reasonable. If we draft a corner early, I would use Jones as our returner and 4th corner.
What are our needs?
Running back is our biggest need because we need to replace both RBs. Because we have questions at both guards, but possible replacements for both, I think Guard is our second biggest need. We can make it through another year at corner with our current roster, but we need a new starter, so that is our third need, aslo if we get an immediate starter Clements could be moved to nickel/safety. We need depth on the defensive line to replace Fanene, Rucker, and Geathers. I think this is Geathers last season with us, and the other two are nearing 30. We need depth at Linebacker, this need grows if Lawson gets a long term offer and leaves. Back-up Offensive Tackle if Collins signs elsewhere to start. We could use another TE if Coffman is a bust. We need safety depth. I like our receivers, unless someone else signs Simpson, then we have a need.
Where do we fill them?
Marvin has always seen cornerback as a first round position. He traded down in the draft to get Deltha Oneal, and drafted Joseph and Hall in the first round. This is the second position fixed, after Quarterback, when there is a need. Marvin has addressed RB early when there is a need. He drafted Perry and Irons in the first two rounds. When they didn't work out he replaced Perry midseason with Benson. This season is the biggest offseason need we have had a RB. Marvin has historically drafted guards to start immediately in the second round. Historically Marvin has replaced safeties in Free Agency.
From that I think we draft Richardson if available at 17, if not we take the best corner available. At 21, I think we take the best corner available, unless we took one at 17, then we take the best Guard, RB, or Barron.
Marvin has been gold drafting defensive linemen in the 3rd and 4th round, with Peko, Geathers, Rucker, Sims, Atkins, and Johnson all drafted in that range. I would fill our defensive line needs there.
In free agency, the signing I would most like to see is Benjarvus Green-Ellis. He has shown the ability to gain rushing yards in a passing offense and can share the ball. That does not eliminate the need to draft a RB.
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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Easy breakdown
Sucked – Nate Livings and Chris Crocker
Not very good – Ced Benson, Andre Caldwell, Kelly Jennigs
Average at best – Bandon Tate, Rey Mauluga
AJ Greene and Geno Atkins were great!!! Everyone else was on the tean was good to very good IMO
I thought Jennins was coming along at the end of the year.
He’s not a starter, but we should evaluate him for another year behind Hall, Clements and unnammed draft pick to see if he can be our #3.
It must be inordinately taxing to be such a boob. ~ The Brain
Yeah, I agree he played better as the year progressed
But I’m not sold on him at all
We'll need the roster spots
to fit 2-3 CB we hopefully draft. Get rid of the scrubs develop some young pkayers of our own
Skuta like this year. I thing we have slot of dept there. Corners and safties my main concern on def
Skuta is adequate
Maualuga, when healthy early on, made plays across the line of scrimage. Skuat is more like D Jones was, making stops when the play comes to him. Skuta is a solid back-up.
It must be inordinately taxing to be such a boob. ~ The Brain
There are only so many DBs you can have
We still should have Nelson, Mays, Sands, and Miles at safety next year. we need another in the draft, but I consider it more awant than need.
At Corner, an early draft pick along with Hall, Clements, Jones and either Ghee or Jennings fills our Defensive backfield.
It must be inordinately taxing to be such a boob. ~ The Brain
You misunderstood
Marvin didn’t draft O’Neal, he traded down with the Broncos and got one of their picks and O’Neal in return.
The defense was the biggest disappointment of the year, for me
and that probably sounds dumb, but hear me out.
The offense was expected to be awful. Instead, they were adequate EVEN with the useless to hindering running game.
The special teams was expected to be meh. And they were.
The defense was expected to be solid and, for the mostpart, were. However, when they failed, it wasn’t for an additional 10 yards here or there. The failures were 40 yard runs or touchdowns. There was a failure to get strong coverage at times and failure to get position on passes often.
If the offense went unchanged, beyond the obvious change at RB, I think they would do just as well by having an additional year of experience together. That isn’t to say we should ignore linemen if available, but I would focus on replacing JJO (for fear of Hall being hampered by the achilles) and getting better in the safeties. The defensive line needs to be maintained, hopefully.
Go Reds!
(and gooooo krogering)
"The special teams was expected to be meh. And they were."
Besides not having many returns for TDs, I think special teams was great. Top 5 in starting field position and, I believe top 7 in opposing team starting field position.
by Oregonbengalsfan on Jan 16, 2012 1:19 PM EST up reply actions
And the one that got returned against us
missed block in the back.
by Oregonbengalsfan on Jan 16, 2012 1:20 PM EST up reply actions
I disagree about special teams & defense
The defense was pretty solid, considering the loss of Hall and the late loss of Sims. The special teams as a whole was among the best in the league. Our kick coverage units were phenomenal, and our PK & P were pretty solid. Nugent was gold until pretty late in the season, and even then only missed some pretty long ones. Our return game was scary (to us, not opponents), otherwise it was a very good unit.
The defense played very well, but the offense couldn’t convert third downs for the first half of the season. The defense still held strong and got us to 6-2, but by then they were so banged up and wore out that they couldn’t win on their own anymore. The offense didn’t step up to compensate, so the losses started rolling in.
If Hall comes back strong and the rest of the pieces stay the same, this will be a top 10 defense again next year, easily. With an upgrade at Safety and a solid CB in the draft it could very well be top 3.
I think they need more offensive support
We need to get 1st downs late in the game, I don’t think the offesne supported the defense enough late in the year.
It must be inordinately taxing to be such a boob. ~ The Brain
How about
Sign Michael Bush, and draft a speed back (LaMichael James, if he falls) in the middle rounds. I think we should keep Leonard and replace the other two RBs, getting a Marvin-esque bellcow and a WCO-friendly smaller ‘back. Obviously, I’d like to find a RB who can do it all—run, catch, block—but they’re a rarity, and I think the more realistic option is to get two guys with different strengths.
I think we should hold off on LB this year. I have my concerns about Rey, but I don’t think we should pull the trigger on MLB yet, unless an elite one somehow falls to us. I’d like to see how Skuta and Muck develop. We’ve also got Howard, Moch, Rivers coming back, maybe Lawson…let’s focus on making the secondary functional and on building up the d-line. I think CB, SS, and DE/DT depth is a much bigger issue than MLB.
We need to find a track-star WR in the middle rounds, as well. We’ve got Green and an array of slot guys, let’s focus on finding someone else to help stretch the field. Our version of James Jones—he only gets a few catches a game, but he helps keep the defense honest. Remember ’10, with Chad and TO going deep, creating opportunities for Gresham and Shipley? Imagine AJ and a deep-threat WR doing that for Gresham, Shipley, Hawkins, Whalen, Lee, Cochart…
My thoughts on the CBs
Hall was pretty damn good until he got hurt.
Clements was up and down. Some games he really sucked, such as at home against the Browns. He kept falling down and getting beat, but fortunately the Browns receivers dropped more than they caught. Other games he was very solid.
Jennings started terribly, but late in the season he was usually in the right place to break up the pass. I don’t think I ever saw him actually touch the football to deflect it, but he was good at being there with the receiver and either good enough or lucky enough that they rarely caught it.
Jones was kinda like Clements.. he got burned a lot, but other times he was very solid.
I’m not happy with any of them being starters except Hall, but if he comes back strong and the rest stay the same we’ll still be good enough for most opponents.
I AGREE
Even though the Bengals have shown in the past they don’t make splashes in free agency. With the cap space where it is, they have to spend money somewhere. I would like the signing of Bush. He is a good back, would fit the offense and he would come at a decent price. Secondly, they need a reciever that can bring experience. As much as I would love Reggie Wayne,Robert Mechaem is younger, more of a deep threat and most likely fit the price range. As much as I would hate to think it, I think the safeties are gonna be promoted within. I think Nelson is a good player but I wouldn’t break the bank on a average player that was out of position a lot. They need to resign Kelly Jennings or Pacman,not both. Brandon Ghee needs to be giving a chance to play more. He was a stud at Wake Forest and needs to stay healthy. The biggest need on this team is the offensive guard positions. I think a full offseason for Boiling would help and he will be a starter. So that leaves the right guard position to be addressed. Im just saying what they should do in free agency,since that starts way before the draft, that way they know what to look at in the draft.
Almost forgot
Need to resign Pat Sims, Maybe Lawson but Caldwell and Simpson can go for all I care.
My thoughts on the offense
I’m not worried about the receiving corps at all. I’ve said this in other threads, but between Green, Gresh, and Ship we’ve got plenty of weapons. Throw in BabyHawk and Whalen and WR goes WAY down the list of needs. I’d be fine with Whalen at #2, he seemed to go up and fight for the ball when it came his way. We never saw Caldwell do that and rarely saw Simpson do it. They can both be cut. Focus on Green & Gresh, let Ship do the slot, and have Whalen just do mostly short routes where he’s fighting their #2 CB (at best) for the ball. Sortof a Housh role. Let BabyHawk do his crazy wonderful stuff.
Like many others have said, we really need to move Tubby Smith to guard and let Collins start at RT. There’s no one on the line better than him except Whit. We’ve known this for 2 years, but he’s probably going to go somewhere else this offseason and tear it up next year, just like Mathis did this year. If we do use Smith and Collins as starters (Please God!) then we only need 1 more starter on the line. Obviously Livings shouldn’t be a starter, and we don’t know if Boling is ready to take his place. McGlynn started terribly, but didn’t look too bad late in the season. I want a guard or tackle-to-be-moved-to-guard in the first couple rounds of the draft, but as long as Collins & Smith are both starting the line will be ok. An old Bobbie Williams or a still-improving McGlynn will do for one more year.
The RBs are obviously worthless. Scott is by far the better of the two, as he actually tries to avoid tacklers and break tackles and drive for more yards, whereas Benson just falls down, but neither is good enough to be the starter. Draft Richardson if he falls to us, otherwise grab someone in the 2nd. I liked Cyrus Gray, don’t know how the injury will impact his future.
Dalton has amazing pocket presence and the coolest head ever, but he’s not terribly accurate. I think that will get better, but I have absolutely no faith in Ken Zampese. I hear him talked about as an OC candidate, but when is the last time we saw a Bengals QB improve? Palmer never did in all his time here. I haven’t seen anything from our QBs to make me think “he’s really getting better!” in.. I don’t remember ever thinking that, actually.
Fire the OL coach and the TE coach. They have failed miserably. Bring in someone that will develop these guys and make them better. I don’t necessarily want Zampese fired just yet. Let’s see what he does with Dalton. But definitely fire the guys that lost Evan Mathis, started Dennis Roland over Anthony Collins, turned Chase Coffman from a receiving machine to a guy that can’t even get off the practice squad, and turned Jermaine Gresham, supposedly the next Jermichael Finley, into a guy who “will probably be really good once he ‘gets it’”.
I would keep Livings over McGlynn
I don’t want either but if I had to choose it would be Livings. McGlynn was garbage. I didn’t see any improvement later in the season especially the playoff game. He got bulldozed almost every play. When Cook isn’t able to chip over and help our guards they get exposed and playing against 3-4 defenses our final 2 games it was hard not to notice.
by Bigcatdaddy on Jan 16, 2012 2:46 PM EST via Android app up reply actions
You're Right
I think a big reason for Dalton’s production slipped late in the season is pressure up the middle. I can’t remember what game I was watching this weekend, but Troy Aikman was talking about how a QB can handle pressure around the end, but QB’s hate getting pressure up the middle.
Think about the second Pittsburgh game. They stunted and brought pressure up the middle and Dalton struggled in that game. In fact, the whole second half of the season Dalton was getting pressure up the middle. Once Pittsburgh exposed that weakness, other teams started to exploit it.
I don’t care how big of a man crush Alexander has on Livings, the Bengals have to upgrade both guard positions.
Another argument to "tackle" (get it) our Guard issue in FA vs. just through the draft.....
my fear is having two inexperienced G’s starting on the interior of the line if Collins leaves via FA (whether he would play G or T who knows). We need at least one experienced G, especially on the left side right now.
"The next person you see that throws something, point em out! You don’t live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!"
- Sam Wyche
by The Van Buren Boys on Jan 18, 2012 11:24 AM EST up reply actions
Pretty much agree with everything
And I think we can get Cyrus Gray in the 3rd, I’d love for us to draft him!
What do you do when there's no way out? Find a way to get deeper in it.
by jimbasa on Jan 16, 2012 10:52 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
It is a case of the "twos".
If we are going to compete for the title we need to seriously upgrade 2 Gs, 2 CBs, 2 RBs and 2 Ss. If we can do that by improving the play of some of our current roster that would be great but IMO in several cases it is the lack of things that cannot be coached that is the problem. It is time we cut the guys we know aren’t going to get us where we need to go and went out an got what we need. IMO this is a three year process, the first year of which is over. Improve 3-5 of them this year and we are still competitive in a tougher schedule. Improve 2-4 of them the following year and we are a top 10 team both offensively and defensivly. Bring these four inadequate position groups up to adequate and we can compete. Bring them up to good and we can win.
I would also consider replacing a few position coaches, not necessarily because they are bad, but rather because it is possible that they have brought all they can to the party and that the players and coaches have become too comfortable with one another. It is possible that we just need some new blood in the position coaching area.
"If we always agree, one of us is not necessary"
Agree completely
But I think 2 RBs, 1 CB, and 1 G are reasonable goals forthis year to improve while not allowing decay at existing positions of strength. That allows us to evaluate Mays, and Boling going toward the future. One of the reasons that Pittsburgh has been good for so long is that they always have depth.
It must be inordinately taxing to be such a boob. ~ The Brain
DISAGREE FOR THE MOST PART, BUT......
in my opinion, we need to make a splash in FA and in the draft. I expect Dalton to take a small step back in his 2nd year. That being said, we have a couple of weaknesses that needs to be addressed. If Mike Brown is listening, give me a call, I have a solid plan.
Keep Lawson, he can help on ST and he’s a solid backup…sign him for as little as possible, no more than two years.
Let Benson and Scott go. They had their heyday, it’s done and over with. Keep Leonard/Peerman for ST and backup purposes.
Crocker is a dud, Williams can go and so can Gradkowski/Howard/Jones/Sims. I would sever ties with Rivers/Geathers whenever you find time.
Big splash time……give everything you got for Desean Jackson and Ray Rice. Matt Forte would be easier to lure, but go after all 3 in hopes of landing one of these studs. Ray Rice kills us every year, he’d be a two for one punch. He’d weaken Baltimore’s Offense and give us the edge each week we played them.
Land either Griffin or Landry to replace Crocker. Huge upgrade either way and they both fit our defensive scheme.
Ahhhhh, the draft. BE BOLD!!!! Assuming we land the forementioned players (I like the idea of landing Rice, doubtful, but it’s nice to dream) we have already addressed the SS, RB and WR holes. If we have to draft up, do it. I would nab Decastro/Kirkpatrick/Richardson/James……any combination of these players would provide some big time plays throughout the year.
There, my free adice, Mr. Brown.
"Winning isn't eveything, it's the only thing."
We have the same name...Almost.
And i agree with either taking DeCastro,Kirkpatrick,Richardson Or James, there all good players and James could be our Darren Sproles on the team. but i’d only take him in the 3rd.
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