The Bengals success as of late has been nothing short of underwhelming, 3 seasons in a row of a record under .500 after we had a 12-4 season in which the Bengals won their first 8 games. But since that day Jeremy Hill basically fumbled our chances away, which led to a late surge by the Steelers to win the game 18-16, the Bengals have grown into the punching bag for the AFC North. Even the Browns now, who, as you may know, went 0-16 in the 2017-18 season under Hue Jackson’s rule at head coach, beat down on the Bengals twice last year, but now, it’s a New Dey, and things are changing, and in my opinion, for the better. Here are 3 big reasons why the Bengals will not only be better than the public and analysts say, but even have a shot at the playoffs.
Number 1, Coaching Change Obviously, the biggest offseason change for the Bengals maybe in the last 20 years, firing Coach Marvin Lewis. It was a change he had coming for a good while and probably saw coming. Marvin just didn’t make the atmosphere the players needed and wanted in the locker room, it was just kinda sad. But it seems that’s what brand new head coach Zac Taylor excels at. Locker room atmosphere. Marvin Lewis never let the players blast music in the locker room, now that they have a young, more energetic coach that will let you play music in the locker room and practices to get you hyped up. It just seems like a more exciting atmosphere. But not only is he good to the players, he’s also giving us a bit of identity on the offensive side of the ball. Because we drafted two good, late round running backs in Trayveon Williams and Rodney Anderson, one of, if not the best blocking tight end in the draft, Drew Sample, and the best offensive lineman in the draft in Jonah Williams over a Big 10 quarterback, tells me we’re really going for a ground and pound offense this year, and I love the sound of that. Also, not to mention, the addition of John Miller an offensive lineman from the Buffalo Bills. Number 2: Draft Picks Like I said before, we got many draft picks that are establishing an offensive identity, but we also got some steals on the defensive side of the ball. Germaine Pratt is my best value pick, with us taking him in the third round. We also got Jordan Brown as the seventh round pick who was also a steal. We also got a great run stopper along with Geno Atkins in Renell Wren. One of my number one needs this year was Linebacker and we managed to check that box off pretty well while not even using a first or second round pick to do so. Germaine Pratt and another dark horse for this season Deshaun Davis, an inside linebacker out of Auburn who had 115 total tackles and 3.5 sacks last year as a senior at Auburn, also, not to forget about the 15 tackles for a loss. That is a big plus to me and also a huge advantage. Number 3: Offensive Line Our offensive line the last few years since Whitworth left has been lackluster, Bobby Hart and Alex Redmond just didn’t cut it this year, and after they gave Bobby Hart am extension at the beginning of the offseason, it was looking like we were heading in the same path, but in the draft we used our first round pick on a player that was expected to go a lot earlier than #11 in Jonah Williams. We also got Michael Jordan… no…. not that Michael Jordan. This particular Michael Jordan was a great center that went to Ohio State, he played at center behind Billy Price who, is currently the starting center for us. So lots of new, good talent on the o line plus the addition of John Miller, from the Bills.
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I'm, what you may call a die hard Bengals and Eagles fan, but the Bengals are and will always be my #1 NFL team. Being a Bengals fan comes at a price, and that price is mediocracy. But before being mediocre, we were a dumpster fire. Then something happened. A rookie QB and Receiver lead us to the playoffs. We lost the playoff game off course, but it gave us hope that maybe, just maybe we found our elite guy. Fast forward 8 years later, and he hasn't done much of anything. I, for one love Andy, as a person. Heck, I use to defend him no matter what. I was a "Dalton lover" but then I realized, we hadn't made the jump we thought he'd help us to make. Now I'm not saying I've flipped to a Dalton hater, because I still think he's a good QB, but that also doesn't mean I'm not ready to move on. Andy at his best, is a top 10 QB in the league; we've seen it before in games like Atlanta (game winning TD pass and over 300 passing yards) Seattle (Lead a 17 point comeback in the 4th) even for near full seasons (2015) but we don't see it enough. When he steps on the field, the chances of you getting the good Dalton that day, aren't that great, but if you do, it's a thing of beauty. The inconsistencies throughout his career is what holds him back. He has a lot of haters that have wanted him gone since the 3rd playoff loss, and it's understandable, but at the same time, I'd rather take my chances with Andy, than start some rookie who will most likely end up a bust. Some of Andy's lows can be blamed on coaching. It's a proven fact, that QBs are better with offensive coaches, with the exception of Bill and Tom of course, but all I'm saying is, now that we have that offensive coach, we may see the good Andy more times than not, and if not, he's outta here. I have no doubt in my mind that if that did happen, and we cut him, he'll be signed very fast. Andy's a good QB. Accurate with a descent arm, but there's more to being a great QB than just arm strength and accuracy. Can you will your team to a win when it matters the most, and he hasn't done that. Will he do it at some point? Maybe. We'll just have to wait and see. But for now, all we have to do is get as many weapons around him as possible because as of right now, he's the guy, whether you like it or not. Joshua TalleyDie Hard Bengals fan The Cincinnati Bengals had a wild offseason some can say one of the best and worst. Bengals fans thought since new head coach Zac Taylor entered the building with new staff behind him we would make a splash in free agency, but they were wrong since only signing OL John Miller and DB B.W Webb but the draft is where it all starts to improve. The last stage to an impactful offseason is a good draft well, at least a decent one. Sometimes, the NFL draft sets the tone for the regular season since most teams are fishing for a new franchise Quarterback. I can officially say the Cincinnati Bengals had one of the best drafts in the NFL. Addressing, the need at a mediocre Offensive Tackle core by adding one of the safest picks in Jonah Williams from Alabama. Then tight end Drew Sample who can prove he’s not only a blocking end but an agile weapon for Andy Dalton to work with on the offensive side of the football. The Bengals later, drafted NC State Quarterback Ryan Finley who has time to prove he can be Andy Dalton’s successor. Later, advancing in the draft the Bengals double dipped on Running Back acquiring Trayveon Williams and Rodney Anderson. UDFA acquiring not only very underrated WR Stanley Morgan Jr but also very underrated QB Jake Dolegala. This team has so many weapons waiting to be used during the season. Zac Taylor has great weapons on his team to possibly push him to postseason. Since Giovani Bernard is most likely on his way out this year Trayveon Williams and Rodney Anderson are good insurance for him. Jake Dolegala great Quarterback and has a huge chance at making the team over Finley. Stanley Morgan Jr the Bengals stated “I don’t know why he fell out of the draft” can possibly be a keeper in the next few seasons. Drew Sample is an athletic agile receiving Tight End even though all of us notice him for his incredible blocking ability. The Bengals are excited for this upcoming season and you should be too.
The big question about this article is could the Bengals choose Jake Dolegala over Ryan Finley? From, what you guys know obviously Finley he’s our 4th round pick that Zac obviously took a while scouting and put effort behind this pick. It may be more misleading than that you see, I admit Zac Taylor loves the Ryan Finley pick and especially where we got him when there’s still a lot of talent on the board. When, the draft concluded we heard a plethora of unsigned names being signed around the league and one of those was 6 ft 7 Central Connecticut State Quarterback Jake Dolegala. Dolegala might be the most underrated quarterback coming out of the draft his arm is incredible and his accuracy is slightly average and he has a lot to learn. During Rookie Minicamp bengals rookie Ryan Finley has struggled throwing the ball but it’s his first camp so he might just be a nervous wreck. On the other hand Dolegala was impressive during his camp and stayed on Target a big percentage of the time. When it comes to these two Quarterbacks it’s really hard to see who I like better because their both so talented and have a ton to learn. I’m not say because Finley struggled he’s not going to make the team because remember Derek Carr struggled his first Minicamp and became an above average Quarterback. This preseason Quarterback battle is going to be harder than you think. Overall, in college Ryan was a better Quarterback than Dolegala only because he was surrounded by above average talents but if you ask me I think Dolegala is a more NFL prepared Quarterback then Finley.
Jessie Bates was A 2nd round draft pick in the 2018 NFL draft, this is why I think he will be the next great Bengal. Bates is a very physical safety, great tackler and ball skills he has good height and weight, the reason he did go in the 2nd was because he likes to hit low which is great but can force a lot of missed tackles, I saw highlights of him this season, great ball skills and tackling ability and he is very healthy, he played all 16 games for the Bengals in 2018 and had 73 Tackles With 38 Assisted And 3 Interceptions, one of those was a Pick 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Bates Is A good player and I feel he will be the next great, he does have some competition now due to the former FS for the Seattle Seahawks in Earl Thomas joining the Ravens and a veteran in Cleveland named Morgan Burnett plus a very good mix of talent in Pittsburgh with Terrell Edmunds and Sean Davis,I feel like Bates will have a better year than all of them, I know that sounds crazy but the Steelers secondary players did struggle a bit last season and Morgan Burnett only has so many years left same with Earl Thomas, sure Bates did struggle a bit last season but for a 2nd round draft pick he was a huge pick up and replacement for Former Bengals Fs George Iloka.
5/18/2019 Why Drew Sample Wasn't that Bad of a Pick and How we Might have the future at Running Back Alongside Joe MixonRead NowSo the NFL Draft has come and gone, and the Bengals got 10 more draftees. Most notable being Jonah Williams, who we took off the board at pick number 11, and also, a very underrated linebacker from NC State, Germaine Pratt. But there were also some picks that I personally liked and I feel that they haven’t been really talked about.
I might be in a bit of a minority here but I really like the Bengals picking Drew Sample, granted, we probably could’ve maybe picked him later in the draft, maybe, if we had to, trade up with one of the seven 6th round picks that we had at that point, instead of taking him after we traded down in the third round at pick number 52. A little high, yes, but I believe the new tight end from Washington will be a very key factor in the offense this year. He is one of, if not, the best blocking tight end in the draft, which opens up new opportunities for us, we can put him at fullback, basically like a new Ryan Hewitt replacement. He can also flank out wide and catch the ball from his normal tight end position. This pick personally, makes me very excited for this year, because we have seemingly given ourselves an offensive identity that we were lacking in the years with Marvin Lewis. It seems clear that this coaching staff wants to do something Marvin didn’t do in his last few years in The Jungle, and that was to feed Mixon the ball consistently. Marvin just didn’t do that last year for whatever reason, but it’s clear we have our guy at running back and, heaven forbid, he gets injured, that’s where my next sleeper pick comes in. As many of you know, we drafted two running backs, one that I’m very high on and the other who is very solid as well. Those men are named Trayveon Williams out of Texas A&M and Rodney Anderson out Oklahoma. Since we seeming to establish a strong run game, that will leave a much heavier work load on Mixon, which can be hard, but if he gets too tired or injured, we have two very capable guys to back him up. Trayveon Williams in a word was a playmaker at Texas A&M, he rushed for 1760 yards on 271 carries averaging 6.5 yards per carry as a Junior in 2018, he also had 18 rushing touchdowns. Unbelievable numbers but in his overview on NFL.com states “Williams isn't overly dynamic by NFL standards” which could change with the right coaches by his side. Rodney Anderson is another player that was very good at the colligate level, however, last season, he only played 2 games due to a knee injury suffered against UCLA. Very possible this is a minor setback for a major comeback, and the Bengals definitely seem to think this as well after drafting him at number 211 overall in the draft. |