Bengals: David Carr Calls Them ‘Pretenders’

Jun 14, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) throws a pass during minicamp at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 14, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) throws a pass during minicamp at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Former #1 overall pick calls the Bengals “Pretenders”

If you were listening to David Carr talk about the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason and believing what he is saying, you might as well tell the Bengals to not even show up this season.

After an offseason of some turnover where the Bengals offense saw Offensive Coordinator Hue Jackson become the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Marvin Jones trying to prove he is a #1 Wide Receiver in Detroit and Mohamed Sanu go to Atlanta to be Julio Jones’ running mate…..THE SKY IS FALLING DOWN…Except it’s not. At all. But in the eyes of David Carr… Oh, man, is it falling or what?

I understand and respect that NFL network analysts job is to give their opinions about the world of the NFL. I also understand they have every right to say what they want to say, but Carr and company are definitely overselling these losses.

Earlier this offseason Carr listed his most overrated Quarterbacks with Andy Dalton at the top of the list with this quote

"You lost Hue Jackson, you lost some of your main targets down the field, I’m really concerned, brother.  I need to see a lot out of you leadership-wise. I’m hearing some good things out of mini-camp, out of OTAs that you’re stepping up and taking more of a leadership role, but this is going to be a huge year to get Andy Dalton off this list."

David Carr calling someone overrated is pretty funny, don’t you think?

As if Carr wasn’t done with his Bengals issues, during an “NFL Total Access” segment where they were asked are the Bengals contender or pretenders he continued his argument against the Bengals…

"It’s a pretender for me. They have the most talent, at least last year they had the most talent in the league but you lose Mohamed Sanu then you lose Marvin Jones and then you lose the guy that makes it all go in Hue Jackson. He’s gonna be in the division but it’s one of those deals where a lot’s gonna be asked of Andy Dalton now. You’re gonna have to go out there with A.J. Green and not really a lot on the other side pulling away the coverage from him. So i’m really nervous for him, I hope he goes out there and plays well but it’s going to be very difficult."

More from Stripe Hype

Did

Tyler Eifert

quit playing football according to David Carr? Did he know that

Giovani Bernard

had 472 yards receiving out of the backfield? Or that

Jeremy Hill

had a double-digit TD season? How about that Marvin Jones only had four receiving TD’s last year and Mohamed Sanu didn’t have any receiving Touchdowns? His two, yes two trips to the end zone were on trick running plays. Oh and by the way,  Mr. Carr… Bernard had 78 more yards receiving than Sanu did.

As far as the “not a lot on the other side” comment, if you’re concerned about how Brandon LaFell fits into the system, sure, by all means, I get that. But his stats in his last full season compared to Marvin Jones aren’t too far apart.

LaFell in 2014: 74 catches, 953 yards 7 Touchdowns on a team with Gronk and Julian Edelman

Jones in 2015: 65 catches, 816 yards 4 Touchdowns.

Both guys battled injuries, sure, but they’re not too far off from each other. Then you talk about Tyler Boyd who may be a rookie mystery but was a major success at Pitt and has all the ability to be a big-time player in this offense… Especially with Andy Dalton throwing the ball to him. (Yup, Andy Dalton).

Next: Bengals: Wide Receiver Battles

By the way… In all this talk about the Bengals taking a step back….. Why hasn’t the Defense been mentioned at all?

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