Archive for February, 2011

We can’t see what is happening in the kitchen deep inside PBS. But something smells different to me. It is not the usual gruel served up by Mike Brown for the last 20 years. No, I’m not fawning over the Jay Gruden hire. We won’t know anything substantive about his hiring for 6 months (at least). But there is something about the way he was hired that strikes me as a bit different from the usual Bengal way. Look through this info and see if it strikes you the same way.

Welcome back to the NFL, Mr. Gruden. Joe Reedy has a small bio on Gruden. You owe it to yourself to go take a look at the new OC to see what you think. Here are a few of the things that stand out to me about him:

ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio is hearing that the Bengals may turn to Jay Gruden (Jon’s brother) to serve as the team’s next offensive coordinator. Gruden is currently the head coach of the UFL’s Virginia Destroyers. According to Wikipedia, Gruden played quarterback at Louisville and has both playing and coaching experience in arena football. I think the Bengals offense needs a disciplinarian more than anything else and if the report is true, and Gruden can bring some of the same fire that his brother has, I’m on board. I’m anxious to see where the fan reaction lies on this one. Believe it or [...]

Former Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski is on his way out the door. And Brat has been wearing a bullseye for fan angst for the past several seasons. So it would be really easy to pile on as he makes his exit, to trip him on his way down. But I won’t do that. I’ll keep it classy. And I think you should too. It’s over now. So heed the words of Ron Burgundy.

In today’s NFL, I believe quarterbacks need to be accurate more than anything else. In short, put the ball on the money and give the receivers a chance to make a play.  That’s why I enjoyed the CincyJungle’s snapshot of the quarterbacks in this year’s draft class. I think I’m most intrigued by the top three players on their list, Florida State’s Christian Ponder, TCU’s Andy Dalton, and Alabama’s Greg McElroy. All three have proven to be pretty accurate passers. All three should be available after the first round. And I think all three deserve a deeper look.

Whomever the Bengals hire as their new offensive coordinator (and I do not pretend to know enough to say who that should be), he will have plenty of work to do to fix the mess left by the Bratkowski. (Chad Ochocinco might not understand the firing, but we do.) Joe Reedy takes a look at some of the challenges facing the new coordinator. I will add some thoughts of my own.

The first step to any recovery is admitting that there is a problem. The Bengals finally admitted their problem Monday with the firing of Bob Bratkowski. (36 hours later, I’m still almost as giddy as a tween at a Justin Bieber sighting.) A quote from Marvin at bengals.com stood out to me as an indicator that this was not merely a sacrificial firing to appease fans in the face of failing ticket sales. This stands out to me as a true admission of a real problem born of honest self-analysis. Marvin said: “What upsets me is I can’t tell who [...]

One of the Bengals biggest questions heading into the draft will be whether to pull the trigger on a quarterback early in the draft. As I’ve written before, Cincinnati’s lack of a solid backup and the uncertainty of the collective bargaining agreement make it impossible to trade Carson Palmer. Even if the team could trade for someone like Philadelphia’s Kevin Kolb (who wouldn’t be a terrible option), Kolb wouldn’t have much time to adjust to Cincinnati’s offensive scheme and receivers unless a labor agreement is reached early in the offseason. And that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. So [...]

Geoff Hobson is reporting that the Bengals new search for an offensive coordinator could end this week. Even more interesting is that Hobson is hearing it will be someone outside of the Bengals organization. Indications are the Bengals are going to go outside the staff and that Lewis took his search to Mobile. Hmmm…Consider myself intrigued. And perhaps terrified too. This could get good. Or really, really bad. Stay tuned.