BB: When A Bengals Fan Makes The Mistake Of Working During His Day Job

Being as that my primary trade, where I make stacks on the deck, isn't really as the site manager for Cincy Jungle, there are times throughout any given week that my zombie-fied (often liquefied) reaction leads to momentary displacement. If this life were only a blank canvas of Marvel stories, during the day I'm the common man that long ago stomped a path to become a systems analyst (aka, higher than a computer dude on the proverbial computer food chart). At night my second personality takes hold... as a worn out system admin that bitches about gas prices.

Obviously throughout any given day, something will be missed. A betty belching after inhaling a 16-ounce steak. Phone messages missed because your forgetful nature includes the failure to audiblize ("I get you," says Dubya) the phone after an intense brainstorming session at work. Rent. Something is always missed.

There are times that even my obsession takes a hiatus, a forced slow-motion affect pulling me away from the site. Thankfully we have an expansive crew that keeps growing, filling the void with their own unique voice that makes me feel somewhat like an old dog. A dinosaur that once read a book on HTML... 2.0. My awesome crew wrote on Tuesday. Like you, I read. Now it's my turn to talk.

+ According to reports on Tuesday, safety Usama Young signed with the Oakland Raiders. Young recently visited with the Bengals, but departed the country's sweetest skyline without a contract. We're saddened by this development. No really. The Bengals could definitely use a safety with an opposing quarterback rating 94.6 and a completion rate of 71.4 percent last season.

Don't get us wrong; he's a reasonable enough player to get snaps in the NFL but at the end of the day, Cincinnati didn't feel that he was any improvement over Taylor Mays -- who we figure as a backup on the depth chart if they draft a safety in the first round. If we wanted to be extremely trivial, we'd conclude that if he was good enough to sign with the Raiders, then he wasn't with Cincinnati.

But we're not.

We yawned this week. Before the sudden inhale of oxygen, Young visited. Upon the down slope, he had signed with the Raiders. Nothing really happened -- except you guys fighting off a yawn.

+ One story that fanned the flames of interest was a Geoff Hobson tweet that the Bengals had "mulled" a trade for Raiders linebacker Rolando McClain. McClain, released earlier this week and clearing waivers, is interestingly of no interest with the Cincinnati Bengals. In fact the interest level never seemed that significant to begin with.

Also have checked with a couple more people on the McClain trade interest by Bengals where I think a new term was invented "cursory mulling"

— Joe Reedy (@joereedy) April 9, 2013

From what we gather, cursory mulling is kind of like: "we're f***ing mulling it, alright... mother f***kers."

+ Former Eagles linebacker Akeem Jordan reportedly visited Cincinnati on Tuesday. According to reports the meeting went well with mutual interest. However it ended without Jordan signing a deal -- possibly to return a potential Cincinnati offer to Philadelphia to negotiate a better deal with the Eagles, where he played for six seasons. If he signs with Cincinnati, our best description is that he'd be the Dan Skuta replacement.

I'm just happy I don't have to feel silly rechecking six times that Dan's last name on a post isn't spelled Stuka.

+ And now a fix.

+ Free agent tight end Alex Smith also visited with the team this week, a report that surfaced Monday night. Hosting potential free agents with a perspective of building the bottom half of the roster isn't sexy. Still it's relevant. The Bengals are clearly identifying the No. 3 tight end as dynamic, having hosted multiple players while re-signing Richard Quinn.

Is it safe to say that they're trying very hard to find their Reggie Kelly replacement? Why not? Once a solid blocker during Cincinnati's glory days in the mid-2000s (aka, 2005), Kelly was the No. 1 tight end during Rudi Johnson's franchise record seasons, who still holds the top two rushing seasons in franchise history. Then someone stole his crap in Detroit.

+ Cincinnati is obviously looking at wide receiver, having shown great interest in prospect Tavon Austin, who is scheduled to visit this week. But don't put too much stock in the team attending Keenan Allen's workout on Tuesday. Every team was there.

And if you're projecting the Bengals selecting a first-round wide receiver, then I'm not even in the same country right now. Still don't see it. At all.

+ Reported prospect visits announced on Tuesday includes Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown, Florida safety Matt Elam and LSU defensive end Sam Montgomery.

+ Could character issues drop Alec Olgetree to the second round for a steal? Writes Dan Pompei with the Chicago Tribune.

Ogletree reportedly failed a drug test and was subsequently suspended by Georgia for four games. He also has been arrested for misdemeanor theft and driving under the influence. A team could look past one of those incidents and justify it a lot easier than it can look past and justify three of them.

Cincinnati isn't without their "steals". Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson come to mind, but for obviously different reasons. Still (transition in thought, not Devon). Don't put it past the Bengals to pull the trigger on a player that they valued high on their draft board, falling during the NFL draft. It's why Tyrann Mathieu could be favored in stripes too. Before you show you're mad knowledge on how the NFL draft will play out, know that we're just thinking out loud.