Originally Posted by BoboFett
Every year, I do an annual article on my evaluation of our beloved cincinnati bengals. Agree, Disagree, hate me or love me, these are nothing but my opinion on our bengals, and we are all entitled to our own. This year I am adding A 1-10 scale of how I rate them, 10 of course being the highest
Ownership : 6.5
Mike Brown
Katie & Troy Blackburn
Mike Brown has either relinquished more control than we are aware of, or the old dog finally gets it. There is always room for improvement, but a 6.5 rating in my opinion, means he is above average here. 5.0 would be league average, so 6.5 means Mike Brown and the other ownership are doing a slightly better than average job. I guess a 9-7 record is slightly better than average too. Overall I think that we are headed in the right direction, lets just hope that by the time we get there the game hasn't evolved again and we get left behind.
Coaches :
Marvin lewis : 6.0
Mike Zimmer : 8.0
Jay Gruden : 7.5
Darrin Simmons : 6.0
Assistants : 4.5
Marvin Lewis : (6.0) is an above average coach. He scouts well, he drafts well, he has a decent vision on what a winning football team in the AFCN should consist of. What ML lacks is game day time management, playcalling and overriding his coordinators when they should be able to just do their job. Challenges are one of his weak points, he always seems to challenge the worst plays, and doesnt challenge the ones that need to be. ML is a decent coach, and honestly I would much rather keep him than let Mike Brown hire someone, his track record for hiring head coaches ain't so great, and I don't want to chance it. This is also ML's last year of his contract, so anything less than 8 wins, IMO, should warrant him being fired.
Mike Zimmer : (8.0) I know I will catch alot of flack for this, but I love what zimmer brings to this team. Some people love to forget how bad this team was with chuck breshnahan as our DC, and honestly we haven't gotten enough playmakers for zimmer in the years he hasn't had a top defense. Heck we had 1 CB who went down, and our defense still kept us in ALOT of games last year. Given a new rookie CB, and some new tools, Zimmer will post a top 10 defense for us again this year
Jay Gruden : (7.5) Let's all not annoint jay gruden the next bill walsh ok everyone? I know he is well liked by most fans, but lets remember that he took over for a guy we have all wanted gone forever. We got change, but he is by no means an offensive genius. I sure hope he improves this offense this year. We need a better rushing attack, and that should open up our play action and deep ball shots. I blame Benson for the complete lack of rushing attack, and I think most of us here who are sane can agree on that. Benson didn't even get a CALL from another team, but yet some people think he was still a great RB. I don't think the law firm is the answer though, and I sure hope when he falters the RB by committee can keep guys fresh and give us a more rounded attack.
Darrin Simmons : (6.0) I think simmons is only slightly above average, he does a decent job. I am glad we don't let special teams be a liability, and this is based solely on coaching. He has a good K and P to help him look good thats for sure. I don't think he is the next great special teams coach turned head coach (Harbaugh) or even will make it to a OC or DC job any time soon.
Assistant coaches : (4.5) Here is where I think we lack alot sometimes. We took some losses with Kevin Coyle getting a DC job, and some of our position coaches seem like they don't do a standout job alot of the time. Just a matter of opinion, but I ranked us slightly below average in this department.
Players
Offense : 6.5
Defense : 8.0
Special Teams : 9.0
QB :
Andy Dalton 7.0
A solid rookie, Dalton is an above average QB who can easily become great. He had a standout rookie year, doing better than palmer who went on to become a multiple pro bowler. Look for dalton to avoid the dreaded "sophmore slump" and continue to improve, throwing fewer interceptions and more TD's, and to get our playmakers like gresham more involved. His only draw back, is what john gruden said on his QB camp, sometimes dalton goes for the jugular instead of checking it down and taking what the defense gives him. I love the moxie and tenacity he brings, but sometimes you have to let the defense dictate what passes you can throw, to avoid sacks, interceptions, and ultimately lacking points on the board. His leadership, well we all know that is amazing.
Bruce Gradkowski : 4.0
Standard Backup grade. I love his ability to drive the team up the field in 2 minute drills as he has done so many times, as a comeback guy he is solid, now if only he could do that any other time in the game.....
HB :
Ben jarvis Green Ellis 6.0
Only slightly above average RB here. He has NEVER fumbled which is a HUGE plus, but I don't think he will do nearly as well behind our line as he did with the patriots. Belichick knows when someone is a system player, and I think he knew BJGE was replaceable by just about anyone. Lets hope we didn't get duped into the next matt cassel.
Bernard Scott : 6.5
I still think scott has done his time behind benson, and deserves the chance to compete for the starting role. He was given the backup job day 1, because the coaches saw something special, and he never really lost it. I think if BJGE struggles at ALL in the first 2 games, we all need to be chanting for scott, and get this kid on the field and see what he can do. He has ALOT of tread left on the tires, and lets hope he isn't too old and wasted away on the bench for us behind the terrible benson
Brian Leonard : 4.5
Great 3rd down back, but is getting older too. He is below average, lacks explosiveness and top end speed. Serviceable, and great for 3rd down. Can block well, but other than that not impressed with him as an every down back.
Rookies : 4.0
Let's let them get through training camp before we annoint anyone a bust or pro bowler guys :)
FB :
Chris Pressley : 6.5
The kid plays with a MEAN STREAK I absolutely love. He never shy's away from contact, and can definitely block. He lacks the ability to rush the ball, or catch out of the backfield, something you'd usually want in a west coach offense. Rated 6.5 as a BLOCKING FB only, and prob 2.5 as a receiving FB. In the role we use him, I gave him his role rating.
WR :
AJ GREEN : 8.5
AJ Green is the next megatron, I knew it from early in training camp, and so did the coaches. I knew coming out of college the kid was good, but DANG guys, if dalton and him get a full offseason to train together it might be scary how good these 2 can become.
Jordan Shipley : 6.5
Great slot receiver, not a burner, but a great route runner who can make plays. I think having him back will make a bigger impact on the offense's success than most realize.
Mohammed Sanu : 4.0?
Not a burner, but could be a great red zone target. Let's see in training camp.
Ya have to root for the kid after that prank call on draft day.
Armon Binns : 3.5
I'm sorry guys, but I cannot and will not appoint armon binns the next T.O. off a fluff article on the front page. If he was SO good as a few of us here have hyped him up, he would at LEAST been on the game day roster as active. I hope he turns out to be a great WR for us, but unfortunately I don't see him making any impact, it's hard to get WR's on the field for this team apparently.
Andrew Hawkins : 5.0
I love this kid, at first I thought he was too small to make an impact at WR, but every time the ball goes his way he catches it, and then the slippery little guy gets another 10 yards! Not to mention his value on special teams. Don't get me wrong he is a 3rd/4th receiver, but we could do ALOT worse at 4th/5th WR.
Brandon Tate : 2.5
No value as a receiver at all hardly, basically made the team as a returner and special teams guy. I'm not even overly impressed with his return abilities. I wouldnt be surprised to see him not make the team.
Ryan Whalen : 3.5
I think this kid can prosper, if he gets more reps and timing down with dalton. He isn't bad, and has shown some promise.
TE :
Jermaine Gresham : 8.0
Yes, I think if he got more balls thrown his way he could be a TOP TIER nfl receiving TE. The catch in baltimore last year made me see just how great of a receiver he is. I think dalton needs to rely on him more, and we can move the chains alot better if we do. His blocking is good, he can catch some great ones, and is a good route runner and fast for a TE to boot!
Orson Charles : 6.0
I think this kid will make the team as 2nd or 3rd TE easy. The fact he slid so far down in the draft amazes me. His talent is def there, now let's develop him and have a 2 TE attack we need!
Backups : 5.0
Average TE's, good blockers but average or subpar receivers. Good enough to play in the NFL as a backup of course
Tackle :
Andrew Whitworth : 7.75
Good run blocking ability for LT, and a pretty darn good pass protector. Whitworth is solid all around, and would be rated higher but he has costly false starts at key times more than I would like. Can't take this guy for granted thats for sure!
Andre Smith : 7.25
Andre Smith will have a breakout year at RT. Moving him from LT to RT to save $ was a dumb move, as I think whitworth and smith would both have benefited from switching positions from the get go. Anyhow, I think smith has a huge year, and gets a big contract. Now I just hope after this big year, he stays healthy and lives up to the money we will pay him.
Anthony Collins : 6.0
Not much of a drop off, this guy is a SOLID tackle in the NFL. He can play both sides, but is better suited as RT. Honestly, I like the guy, but let's face it, he is one of those guys who is almost a starter, but not quite a backup.
Dennis Roland : 4.0
Great run blocker, and great for the unbalanced line. Other than that, he struggles in pass protection. And for a guy who is 6"9 322, you'd think he would be a mauler who just dominated D lineman.
Guard :
Kevin Zeitler : 7.0
I am going out on a huge limb here, and i'm going to assume this guy has a dang good rookie year. Wisconsin seems to be a can't miss school as far as drafting linemen. Every year they put out a couple of NFL starters, and heck their RB's are never considered to be high picks because of them being a product of the system it seems. Zeitler is going to do a GREAT Job for us
Travelle Wharton : 6.0
My neighbor Kris Mick (subhouse contest champion 2011) played at south carolina with Wharton, or as they called him, Big Baby Vello.. From what he has told me, we have a starter in him, and he isn't a mauler type, but that the guy utilizes superior technique to beat his man, and rarely is a liability in pass protection. He isn't the BEST run blocker, but can def pull and kick out to get to his man. This is what i've been told, and he may be biased, so take it with a grain of salt.
Clint Boling : 6.0
I think wharton and boling battle our the 2nd starting guard job, and it's going to be close. Boling did OK last year, remember offensive line is about time to GEL with the other guys in the unit, and knowing your assignment. Boling was thrown into the fire so to speak, and did OK for what he was given to work with. I think after a year in the NFL system, he bulks up, gets stronger and is able to contribute more this year.
Other : 3.5
Our backups are nothing special
Center :
Kyle Cook : 6.5
I think cook is good, but he is by no means great. He does a good job, but I don't think he earned the big contract extension he got from our team. We are however, stuck with him, and I hope he continues to improve.
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05-05-2012, 04:07 PM
Re: Evaluating the Bengals from Top to Bottom (article)
Re: Evaluating the Bengals from Top to Bottom (article)
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