Archive for February, 2009

The chances that the Cincinnati Bengals would have to reach for an offensive tackle with the sixth overall pick in the April draft appear to be rising. As a fan of B.J. Raji, I’m all in favor of taking him at six, but again, I’m less concerned about precisely who the Bengals take than I am about them reaching to fill a need and passing up better players in the process. The bottom line is that the Bengals have needs everywhere, and no matter who they select, they’ll be upgrading at some position. Mike Mayock favors Brian Orapko over Raji [...]

Conventional wisdom appears to be drifting toward the conclusion that Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Levi Jones won’t be in stripes next season. However, the team is expected to hold onto Jones until after the draft, likely in case they don’t get the tackle they want with the sixth pick. A Jones departure would (mostly) bring to a close a sad period in Bengals history in which the club’s attempt to secure its offensive line for the foreseeable future ended up having precisely the opposite effect. The Bengals gave a six-year, $40 million deal to Jones, and a five-year, $25 million [...]

Cincinnati Bengals strong-side linebacker Rashad Jeanty, a restricted free agent this year, will get the $1.545 million restricted free agent tender. This gives the Bengals the right to match any offer he receives, and second-round draft pick compensation if they don’t. Jeanty, a former CFL defensive end, signed with the Bengals in 2006. He has started 31 games, accumulating 194 tackles and 5 passes defensed. He is generally regarded as stout against the run, but not a threat to rush the passer. The tag is the lowest possible one the team could use that would bring compensation, since Jeanty was [...]

Rumor has it that the QB-needy New York Jets are sniffing around Bengals QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. Needless to say, Jets fans are just thrilled at the news. For what it’s worth, horrified Gang Green backers, Fitzpatrick’s shaky performance in Cincinnati last season had more to do the team’s atrocious pass defense (51 sacks surrendered) and total lack of a running game (29th in the NFL) than anything else. Even Carson Palmer got destroyed, losing all four of his starts before an elbow injury shut him down for the year. Still, if the Jets are looking at him as anything but [...]

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis doesn’t see both Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh leaving in 2009. Lewis also said losing David Pollack to a career-ending neck injury set the defense back. Former Bengals LB Riall Johnson says that being a Toronto Argonaut last season was even worse than being a Bengal in 2002. Dr. Timothy Hewitt “who works with Cincinnati Bengals team physicians and consults with European soccer clubs, believes tests can be designed to measure how vulnerable to injury an athlete is.” Kirk addresses a prime example why the Bleacher Report is junk. B.J. thinks Chad will go [...]

The Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars are both eyeing WR Jarrett Dillard. The Rice University product is small and lightweight, but finished his senior year as the all-time touchdown leader in college football and performed well at the East-West Shrine Game in January. NFL Draft Scout rates Dillard as a 3-4 round pick.

The Cincinnati Bengals homed in on the four sure-fire first-round offensive tackles at the combine yesterday. They weren’t the only ones. Listening to Lions coach Jim Schwartz, Don Banks predicts Detroit will take an OT, not a quarterback, with the first overall selection. Schwartz cites many of the same reasons that I did about a month ago, namely that teams can’t afford a big offensive skill position bust at the top of the draft and OT is generally seen as the “safe” pick. If the Lions do go OT, that muddles the picture for the Bengals. Between the Rams at [...]

As the football universe gathers in Indianapolis for its annual (and overblown) cattle call, the initial buzz surrounding the Cincinnati Bengals concerns the wide receiver position. Not in relation to the draft prospects currently being poked and prodded at Lucas Oil Stadium, but rather in reference to current and former Cincy ball-catchers. Former Bengals wideout Kelly Washington has expressed interest in returning to Cincinnati. “He said he liked it there, liked the people, and enjoyed playing with Carson,” said his agent, Chad Speck. Meanwhile, the Bengals front office isn’t giving any signals that it’s willing to trade Chad Johnson. And [...]

Now that Shayne Graham has been tagged and T.J. Houshmandzadeh written off, the spotlight has shifted to the third big name on the Cincinnati Bengals’ free agent list, RB Cedric Benson. Benson has said he’s open to returning to Cincinnati and is in fact grateful that they gave him an opportunity to get back into the league. Despite that, no deal has been forthcoming. No one can blame Benson for wanting to test the market, but as the free agent period approaches, things aren’t all falling his way. While the New York Giants eliminated one competitor by franchising RB Brandon [...]

The Mock Draft Database has been cleaned up a bit over the last week, reducing the number of mocks tracked by about 20. So the numbers on the Cincinnati Bengals Mock Draft Big Board dip a bit this update, but the overall results remain unchanged, with OTs Eugene Monroe and Jason Smith in a virtual dead heat for the No. 6 pick. The next tier includes OTs Michael Oher and Andre Smith as well as DT B.J. Raji. Everyone else is pretty much an also-ran at this point, though DE Brian Orakpo is rising a bit. Offensive tackle is still [...]