Archive for January, 2009

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis had no comment on a Baltimore-based report that he was interested in bringing back Hue Jackson as offensive co-ordinator. The current Bengals OC is Bob Bratkowski. The Bengals were dead last in the league offensively in 2008.

Former Cincinnati Bengals RT Willie Anderson’s quest for a Super Bowl ring ended on Sunday when the Ravens fell to division rival Pittsburgh 23-14. The Steelers will face the upstart Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII. The final verdict on Willie’s release last August? Anderson proved his doubters wrong, starting 11 regular-season games as well as all three of Baltimore’s postseason tilts. Though dinged up several times over the course of the year, Anderson routinely “rubbed a little dirt on it” and got back into the game. He helped plow the road for the NFL’s fourth-best rushing attack and did [...]

Props to respected The Dallas Morning News sportswriter Rick Gosselin for giving an extra twist to the knife tonight for Bengals fans. Not only do we get to watch the once-lowly Cardinals advance to the Big Dance, but also get to recall how Whisenhunt served us the same sewer sandwich three years ago. Whisenhunt up to old tricks: In the opening round of the 2005 playoffs, the Cincinnati Bengals cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 21-17 late in the third quarter. That’s when then-Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt dug into his bag of tricks. Antwan Randle El took a handoff for an [...]

The Baltimore Sun’s Mike Preston reports that the Cincinnati Bengals are interested in bringing in Baltimore Ravens QB Coach Hue Jackson to replace current offensive co-ordinator “Sideshow” Bob Bratkowski. Prior to joining the Ravens, Jackson was the Bengals’ wide receivers coach. Bratkowski has come under heavy fan and media criticism in the wake of a 4-11-1 season in which his unit was the worst in the league.

OT Michael Oher remains atop the Bengals Big Board this update. The mockosphere appears to be souring a bit (thank heavens!) on OSU RB Chris Wells, who has slipped to the third choice behind Alabama OT Andre Smith. LB Aaron Curry and DE Brian Orapko also gained ground this time around. Newcomers to the board this week are OSU LB James Laurinaitis and USC DT Fili Moala. As always, the Big Board was assembled by combing through Fansided’s Mock Draft Database, and uses only mocks that have been updated with the correct draft order at the end of the season. [...]

The Renaissance Riverview Hotel in Mobile, AL, is starting to fill up as players arrive for the Under Armor Senior Bowl. The Cincinnati Bengals coaching staff, which will guide the North team, leaves for Mobile today. Practices begin Monday. The Senior Bowl is the unofficial kickoff of NFL draft season. More than 800 NFL personnel and 400 others, including media, scouts, agents and college coaches are registered for the event.

The tea leaves today portend possible sweeping changes on Bengals special teams. Kicker Shayne Graham’s agent said that there have been no recent talks about a new deal for his client, while Cincinnati special teams coach Darrin Simmons decried punter Kyle Larson’s poor performance last year and said the team would bring in competition at the position. The Bengals average of 39.1 yards a punt was worst in the league last season. Larson’s average has declined for two straight years from his 2006 high of 44.5 yards per punt. Despite this, he was signed to a fresh five-year deal just [...]

The Bengals ended 2008 $10.8 million under the salary cap, (h/t WDR) which is actually a bit surprising, since Cincinnati typically spends up to the limit, or close to it. They actually exceeded the cap a couple years back, thanks to several players hitting various contract incentives, and normally use up any significant excess space in-season to extend current players — as they did in December of 2006 with Carson Palmer, absorbing about $5 million of his $100 million deal in ’06. Would spending up to the cap have helped last season? Probably not. The Detroit Lions ended the their [...]

Ole Miss offensive tackle Michael Oher is currently the mockosphere’s leading choice for the Bengals at six this April. Who is this young man who may receive a $50 million-plus payday from Bengals owner Mike Brown before ever taking an NFL snap? Here’s a look. Oher’s inspirational story was chronicled in detail by author Michael Lewis in The Blind Side. Draft Countdown spoke briefly with Oher last August. There are no shortage of OT rankings for the upcoming draft around the ‘tubes, so here’s just one example. With Cincinnati’s offensive line a shambles and the character of the offense a [...]

In our second weekly Bengals Big Board of the 2009 draft season, Ole Miss OT Michael Oher extends his lead as the early favorite for the No. 6 overall pick. He’s followed by Ohio State running back Chris Wells, with Virginia OT Eugene Monroe in third. Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno and Texas Tech wide receiver Michael Crabtree make their Big Board debut in the wake of each players’ declaration that they’ll enter the 2009 draft. Ohio State CB Malcolm Jenkins also earned a single nod this time around. As always, the Big Board was assembled by combing through Fansided’s [...]