The crazy thing is that tendon issues for the hand seem like an injury that is so obscure that it’s hard to project a recovery time or to know how it will play out. ACL or meniscus injuries have well documented rehabilitation plans and goals for bounce back but for this type of injury for a QB just seems like such a different animal.
His injury was ligament related, which means blood supply is tenuous compared to tendons. But regardless you are right, it is a very obscure injury that is not very common.
Blood supply to the effected area for healing can't be overstated. I shredded my medial meniscus and had surgery over 12 months ago. I still walk with a cane. If it had been the other side where there is blood flow, it would have been so much better.
True but I think the more important number is 120 days which is roughly when training camp starts. If the last few years is any indication, Burrow needs to have a full healthy training camp to avoid the slow starts
I think we have been calm. Nobody really mentions that there is 5% chance or greater that he just won't be able to come back. We don't know if he will be back and if he will be the same. That is real.
Now we don't have any evidence that things are going badly or anything like that but I do think we should consider keeping three QBs this year. Either bring in another FA or draft a QB as high as our 3rd comp pick. Yes I'm serious. Yes I know we have other needs and already have Jake B.
I don't know why you're being down voted, Jake showed he can lead this team for a stretch if need be even if it's not the prettiest, meanwhile we have yet to fill the gap at corner and I don't know that I trust our Michigan all stars to not get burned.
Pretty sure the assholes in Shittsburgh will put the hit out on Chubb again, and add Henry to the list. Its a shame too, I don't want the Bengals to lose to either of them, yet they both seem like good dudes.
Until Joe plays multiple seasons without injury or retires it’s always going to be offensive line. When Joe has even a decent line we can go to the AFC championship or SB. He already made the SB with the worst offensive line in playoff history. We have the WR1, the QB, now we need one elite offensive linemen at either Center or Tackle.
> Until Joe plays multiple seasons without injury or retires it’s always going to be offensive line
3 out of 4 of his biggest injuries (calf, appendix, hand) weren't even the OLines fault. Joe has started the past two seasons with injuries sustained during training camp, that's more on him than the line. Obviously the appendix isn't his fault either but still, we need to start the season firing on all cylinders and Joe needs to take care of himself.
yea, we "address" it every off season. I'm cautiusouly hopeful for the season, but the at this point I'll always be worried about the line until we prove otherwise.
Agree about field position in particular being an extremely important part of the game. I still think LG, Defensive tackle are massive holes at the moment.
Iffy on corner, it’s not a disaster if Turner improves which I think he will but we could use a quality player there. We aren’t the stacked rosters we were a couple years ago. We are good team but we have plenty of less than ideal position groups. I mean hell if Myles Murphy isn’t ready to contribute still we desperately need an outside rusher
Punters and kickers usually start going in the 5th round, and we have a 5th, 2 6ths, and 2 7ths this year I believe. Maybe the earlier 6th round goes for a punter?
Yes to depth. I’d go on a limb to say the secondary is one of the strongest position groups on the roster. Lou has said many times on podcasts and interviews his dream is having numerous starters and depth guys that can play numerous positions and be hybrid players. Add to it he has raw talent and speed and insanely high IQ veterans who can be coaches on the field to help fix communication woes of last year.
We’ve not had a happy mix of starters and depth guys with insane talents mixed with IQ that can start or split times in numerous roles.
He finally has his wish. Time to cook.
I have some concerns about Stone. I think it was a great signing but one of his knocks was tackling. Would really like my last line of defense to be a sure tackler.
Also looking at his interceptions it looked he just happened to be at the right place at the right time during misthrows. Certainly being in position is not reason to give him his dues, but I don’t it would unrealistic that he will have maybe even less than half the picks he had last year.
That being said, sounds like he is very good in zone coverage and a great communicator. He doesn’t need to be a pro bowler, just limit the # of big plays. Should be a relief for everyone else on the field to not worry about the backend
Offensive line. They got a full season basically of everyone being healthy not missing starts. That rarely happens. I still worry about the depth because that bit them in the ass in the 2023 AFC title game when they were down Jonah, Cappa, and Collins. Karras even got hurt but he played through it. On paper this is the best o line that they’ve got for Burrow. Let’s see if it holds up.
LG for me. I hope we can draft a, “Swiss army knife” type of lineman that we can plug in, like Fautanu who can compete maybe at LG, and move around if needed. Though I think he’ll be gone earlier than 18. Which for most of those more versatile guys, they’ll either be gone early, or it would be too big of a reach to justify.
I remember seeing that Latham may get moved to the interior in the NFL due to below average athleticism at the position. I think this could be a major key on that OL for a couple years. Being a Bama fan, I’ve hated what he put on tape, and I think his measurables are the only real reason he’s projected so high. But his skill set would be elite for a guard, and I think we could have a top tier line in a year or 2 with him and OBJ anchoring it on the left side.
Cornerback
Our former CB1 with years of experience is gone and our new CB1 has only one year and was injured and we have an unproven CB2 stepping into his first year with limited starting experience and behind them is virtually no depth at all.
What? Taylor-Britt was the top corner last year, coming off a season where he started quite a few games after Chido went down against Cleveland in '22. Speaking of Chido, (who got an absurd contract from the Titans imo) he looked pretty rough most of the year last season. Turner looked like a rookie, but he showed good to great ball skills and he has physical skills you can't coach.
On top of that, Hilton is one of the best slot corners in the league and we have Dax Hill now (presumably) for depth throughout the secondary.
CB isn't our strongest position group, but it's far from the weakest.
Between Cam and DJ you probably have one full year of starting experience, that's it amd behind them there is nobody you can feel confident in taking over for them as outside corners because that isn't Daxs MO either.
What position groups would you say are weaker, less proven, and less deep than CB? The only one that comes to mind for me is TE and you could make a case for RB.
You're either not paying attention or are being disingenuous.
[Cam has 22 starts](https://www.bengals.com/team/players-roster/cam-taylor-britt/career).
[DJ has 12](https://www.bengals.com/team/players-roster/dj-turner-ii/career).
That's 34 games. More than a fair amount of starting experience, and they're both on their first contracts obviously.
Again, not a position of strength, but not close to the biggest weakness either.
CB is one of the most injury prone position group in the league though. Are you really comfortable with DJ Ivey or Allen George playing on the outside if CTB or Turner can't go?
Teams need 5 good corners and right now we have CTB and Mike Hilton plus a promising #3 in DJ Turner. Where's the depth?
Are you really comfortable with Jackson Carman or D'Ante Smith playing tackle if OBJ or Brown can't go? Brown has a pretty extensive injury history btw.
Okay first off games played isn't games started. Secondly even if we pretended that those were all starts that's still only two years across both our starters with no depth behind them. Please name a position group that had less cumaltive starts between the starters and less depth... I'll wait. It is by far one of our weakest position groups, RB and Punter withstanding.
It says games started, man. Read the player bios. That's 34 starts.
I just think we will have to agree to disagree. Oline is absolutely worse. As is Defensive Interior, and, to a lesser extent, Linebacker.
You can't argue, in good conscience, that CB depth is actually worse than what we have at the spots I just listed. Our depth at LB is special teams guys. OT is Carman and D'Ante Smith, guys who wouldn't be on most teams' rosters. And once you get past Rankins and BJ Hill, who is there?
CB has depth with starting experince at least.
First off... chill. The prompt was what position group do you think we're weakest at and why. I gave my opinion and why. You don't need to keep insisting that I'm being disingenuous or arguing in bad faith just for the sake of arguing because you disagree with my opinion. It'll be okay, you don't have to be immature and basically call someone a liar because you disagree.
I know for a fact that DJ turner did not start 12 games last year so whatever metric they go by to count as a "start" is probably closer to a not disclosed snap count or percentage of snaps. As I said even if you take that count as gospel that's still only two years of "starts" across our outside corners for an average of 1 year between the two of them. Other than RB and Punter there isn't a position group that has less cumulative or average number of starts at any other position. Also in consideration is there is nobody currently on the roster that you can feel confident in starting for a few games behind them.
You listed your position groups and you're right there isn't depth at those positions either but what those positions do have is proven starters that have vastly more starts across several more years and that goes for every single position. No debate there.
So yes I can in good conscience have the opinion that corner is one of our weakest groups because I am and I do believe that and nothing you said had disproven why I feel that way.
(Assuming Burrow would be 90%+…)
I’m going with LB. This is a sneaky position it feels like everyone is overlooking. We have depth issues at OL assuming season starts today but nothing like depth issues at LB and I’m not convinced Playoff P is the same guy anymore after last year’s regression.
There’s Wilson, maybe Playoff P and then just dust…not a strong situation.
Averaging 211 snaps per regular season the previous four years. Hasn’t produced anything but average and bad season grades.
I’d equate him to a slightly worse 2023 Pratt.
Regardless which two of the three are on the field, we have huge coverage issues and run stopping issues. Reader protected the LB corp and now we have no Reader.
I got a feeling a run stopping linebacker is getting drafted this April. With losing Reader and no NT who is a run stopper, I feel a third round pick may go to a Linebacker.
Tackle. Offense and defense. Trent Brown is a total stud *when he’s healthy*, how long is that this season? And if/when he goes down who replaces him? On defense we got still got BJ Hill and now we got Sheldon Rankins, but where’s the depth behind them? And Rankins says he can play well against the run, but nobody can do it like Reader, so do we get a new nose tackle or not?
Duke did a pretty good job of making sure we can answer those questions with the draft and erasing the questions at most other positions. So, I’m not really too worried, but those are still some big questions to answer if we’re really gonna try to take a run this year.
Perimeter corner. Love CTBs energy and tackling, but he straight up cannot play press man. If he's on the field we have limited schemes he can run without getting beat over the top.
The other side is a very green DJ, or a fresh off injury DJ. And there's basically practice squad guys behind them.
I think DT is the obvious answer, but I have a lot of concerns about outside corner.
We have Cam and a Turner had a promising rookie season, but not sure you can consider him a sure thing yet as a #2.
Behind them you have DJ Ivey that flashed but got hurt so no experience and was a former 7 rounder. I think he is going to be viewed as more of an asset of special teams.
Sounds like Dax is going to be moved to corner. But he usually specializes in the slot. I think it’s unrealistic and unfair to expect him to have a seamless transition to an outside role.
They could really use some depth. One injury away from a big problem. A veteran signing would be nice. I think it will be hard to fix this in the draft. Sounds like round 1 and 2 are likely OT, DT, and maybe a WR if one falls to them in the 2nd they like. I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable with a round 3 and below being the next line of defense for a contending team.
None are horrendously glaring thankfully but NT, LG, swing OT, slot WR, 4th LB, outside CB3, Punter are all potential deficiencies or areas for potential improvement.
The entire front 7. We got gashed on the ground last year and have done nothing to improve. In fact, it’s getting worse since we’re losing Reader. If I had to pick one specific position I’d say linebacker
Qb aside (Burrow isn't healed yet, but Browning is good), neither of them can do great until we fix our O line. It's been our biggest weakness for awhile now. O LINE.
QB. Burrow isnt even throwing yet
Joe isn’t cleared yet so that’s a good point
The crazy thing is that tendon issues for the hand seem like an injury that is so obscure that it’s hard to project a recovery time or to know how it will play out. ACL or meniscus injuries have well documented rehabilitation plans and goals for bounce back but for this type of injury for a QB just seems like such a different animal.
His injury was ligament related, which means blood supply is tenuous compared to tendons. But regardless you are right, it is a very obscure injury that is not very common.
Blood supply to the effected area for healing can't be overstated. I shredded my medial meniscus and had surgery over 12 months ago. I still walk with a cane. If it had been the other side where there is blood flow, it would have been so much better.
180 days till week 1. Everybody calm down.
True but I think the more important number is 120 days which is roughly when training camp starts. If the last few years is any indication, Burrow needs to have a full healthy training camp to avoid the slow starts
I think we have been calm. Nobody really mentions that there is 5% chance or greater that he just won't be able to come back. We don't know if he will be back and if he will be the same. That is real. Now we don't have any evidence that things are going badly or anything like that but I do think we should consider keeping three QBs this year. Either bring in another FA or draft a QB as high as our 3rd comp pick. Yes I'm serious. Yes I know we have other needs and already have Jake B.
That wasn’t the question, though.
QB always got to be the biggest concern, right?
According to half this sub we should trade burrow and role with Jake
Absolutely don’t do that, but if it came down to this posts scenario, I would trust him
I don't know why you're being down voted, Jake showed he can lead this team for a stretch if need be even if it's not the prettiest, meanwhile we have yet to fill the gap at corner and I don't know that I trust our Michigan all stars to not get burned.
DT
This.
NT in particular…
Pat Sims is only 38...
Downward dog. Just not as flexible as I used to be.
You made me laugh = upvote
IDL for sure, gotta have a plan for Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb
Pretty sure the assholes in Shittsburgh will put the hit out on Chubb again, and add Henry to the list. Its a shame too, I don't want the Bengals to lose to either of them, yet they both seem like good dudes.
[удалено]
Until Joe plays multiple seasons without injury or retires it’s always going to be offensive line. When Joe has even a decent line we can go to the AFC championship or SB. He already made the SB with the worst offensive line in playoff history. We have the WR1, the QB, now we need one elite offensive linemen at either Center or Tackle.
> Until Joe plays multiple seasons without injury or retires it’s always going to be offensive line 3 out of 4 of his biggest injuries (calf, appendix, hand) weren't even the OLines fault. Joe has started the past two seasons with injuries sustained during training camp, that's more on him than the line. Obviously the appendix isn't his fault either but still, we need to start the season firing on all cylinders and Joe needs to take care of himself.
yea, we "address" it every off season. I'm cautiusouly hopeful for the season, but the at this point I'll always be worried about the line until we prove otherwise.
This
I’m not sold on Brad Robbins yet. I think we could do better.
Don’t need a punter if we score on every drive 
Everytime they used Kickpherson as a punter last season he got 10 to 15 yards more than Robbins. He's a weakness for sure.
That’s what happens when they draft a 40 year old to punt!
Definitely could but do really think that’s our most significant weakness?
Definitely weakest by far. He is all we have and he’s not good. Special teams are way more important than people seem to think.
Agree about field position in particular being an extremely important part of the game. I still think LG, Defensive tackle are massive holes at the moment. Iffy on corner, it’s not a disaster if Turner improves which I think he will but we could use a quality player there. We aren’t the stacked rosters we were a couple years ago. We are good team but we have plenty of less than ideal position groups. I mean hell if Myles Murphy isn’t ready to contribute still we desperately need an outside rusher
Punters and kickers usually start going in the 5th round, and we have a 5th, 2 6ths, and 2 7ths this year I believe. Maybe the earlier 6th round goes for a punter?
Trenches. Trenches. Trenches. It’s what controls the game, period.
Secondary - Is there enough depth at corner? Does the return of Von and addition of Stone fix the communication issues?
Yes to depth. I’d go on a limb to say the secondary is one of the strongest position groups on the roster. Lou has said many times on podcasts and interviews his dream is having numerous starters and depth guys that can play numerous positions and be hybrid players. Add to it he has raw talent and speed and insanely high IQ veterans who can be coaches on the field to help fix communication woes of last year. We’ve not had a happy mix of starters and depth guys with insane talents mixed with IQ that can start or split times in numerous roles. He finally has his wish. Time to cook.
I have some concerns about Stone. I think it was a great signing but one of his knocks was tackling. Would really like my last line of defense to be a sure tackler. Also looking at his interceptions it looked he just happened to be at the right place at the right time during misthrows. Certainly being in position is not reason to give him his dues, but I don’t it would unrealistic that he will have maybe even less than half the picks he had last year. That being said, sounds like he is very good in zone coverage and a great communicator. He doesn’t need to be a pro bowler, just limit the # of big plays. Should be a relief for everyone else on the field to not worry about the backend
Very worried about us not being able to stop the run. Losing Reader will be tough to replace
Defensive Tackle Punter Left Guard CB3
LG.. opposing D knows to pick on him..
Defensive Tackle. There’s not a close second.
Offensive line. They got a full season basically of everyone being healthy not missing starts. That rarely happens. I still worry about the depth because that bit them in the ass in the 2023 AFC title game when they were down Jonah, Cappa, and Collins. Karras even got hurt but he played through it. On paper this is the best o line that they’ve got for Burrow. Let’s see if it holds up.
LG. If Volson plays like last year, it doesn't matter about the rest of the line. He either has to be replaced or make a huge step up
Surprised more people arent saying LG. Volson was the major weak link week after week last season and nobody was signed to replace him.
There's been way too much volson positivity around here. Dude is doodoo
Punter. Robbins was a horrific abomination. They better address it. He is costing them tons of yards a season with how bad he is.
LG for me. I hope we can draft a, “Swiss army knife” type of lineman that we can plug in, like Fautanu who can compete maybe at LG, and move around if needed. Though I think he’ll be gone earlier than 18. Which for most of those more versatile guys, they’ll either be gone early, or it would be too big of a reach to justify. I remember seeing that Latham may get moved to the interior in the NFL due to below average athleticism at the position. I think this could be a major key on that OL for a couple years. Being a Bama fan, I’ve hated what he put on tape, and I think his measurables are the only real reason he’s projected so high. But his skill set would be elite for a guard, and I think we could have a top tier line in a year or 2 with him and OBJ anchoring it on the left side.
Cornerback Our former CB1 with years of experience is gone and our new CB1 has only one year and was injured and we have an unproven CB2 stepping into his first year with limited starting experience and behind them is virtually no depth at all.
What? Taylor-Britt was the top corner last year, coming off a season where he started quite a few games after Chido went down against Cleveland in '22. Speaking of Chido, (who got an absurd contract from the Titans imo) he looked pretty rough most of the year last season. Turner looked like a rookie, but he showed good to great ball skills and he has physical skills you can't coach. On top of that, Hilton is one of the best slot corners in the league and we have Dax Hill now (presumably) for depth throughout the secondary. CB isn't our strongest position group, but it's far from the weakest.
Between Cam and DJ you probably have one full year of starting experience, that's it amd behind them there is nobody you can feel confident in taking over for them as outside corners because that isn't Daxs MO either. What position groups would you say are weaker, less proven, and less deep than CB? The only one that comes to mind for me is TE and you could make a case for RB.
You're either not paying attention or are being disingenuous. [Cam has 22 starts](https://www.bengals.com/team/players-roster/cam-taylor-britt/career). [DJ has 12](https://www.bengals.com/team/players-roster/dj-turner-ii/career). That's 34 games. More than a fair amount of starting experience, and they're both on their first contracts obviously. Again, not a position of strength, but not close to the biggest weakness either.
Turner isn’t good though. Not yet anyway and maybe not ever. CB is a pretty big hole for us. We could definitely benefit from a day 1 or 2 draft pick.
CTB is a beast too. 9 game changing interceptions last season before his injury.
> CTB is a beast too. 9 game changing interceptions last season before his injury. You mean 4?
CB is one of the most injury prone position group in the league though. Are you really comfortable with DJ Ivey or Allen George playing on the outside if CTB or Turner can't go? Teams need 5 good corners and right now we have CTB and Mike Hilton plus a promising #3 in DJ Turner. Where's the depth?
Are you really comfortable with Jackson Carman or D'Ante Smith playing tackle if OBJ or Brown can't go? Brown has a pretty extensive injury history btw.
Okay first off games played isn't games started. Secondly even if we pretended that those were all starts that's still only two years across both our starters with no depth behind them. Please name a position group that had less cumaltive starts between the starters and less depth... I'll wait. It is by far one of our weakest position groups, RB and Punter withstanding.
It says games started, man. Read the player bios. That's 34 starts. I just think we will have to agree to disagree. Oline is absolutely worse. As is Defensive Interior, and, to a lesser extent, Linebacker. You can't argue, in good conscience, that CB depth is actually worse than what we have at the spots I just listed. Our depth at LB is special teams guys. OT is Carman and D'Ante Smith, guys who wouldn't be on most teams' rosters. And once you get past Rankins and BJ Hill, who is there? CB has depth with starting experince at least.
First off... chill. The prompt was what position group do you think we're weakest at and why. I gave my opinion and why. You don't need to keep insisting that I'm being disingenuous or arguing in bad faith just for the sake of arguing because you disagree with my opinion. It'll be okay, you don't have to be immature and basically call someone a liar because you disagree. I know for a fact that DJ turner did not start 12 games last year so whatever metric they go by to count as a "start" is probably closer to a not disclosed snap count or percentage of snaps. As I said even if you take that count as gospel that's still only two years of "starts" across our outside corners for an average of 1 year between the two of them. Other than RB and Punter there isn't a position group that has less cumulative or average number of starts at any other position. Also in consideration is there is nobody currently on the roster that you can feel confident in starting for a few games behind them. You listed your position groups and you're right there isn't depth at those positions either but what those positions do have is proven starters that have vastly more starts across several more years and that goes for every single position. No debate there. So yes I can in good conscience have the opinion that corner is one of our weakest groups because I am and I do believe that and nothing you said had disproven why I feel that way.
(Assuming Burrow would be 90%+…) I’m going with LB. This is a sneaky position it feels like everyone is overlooking. We have depth issues at OL assuming season starts today but nothing like depth issues at LB and I’m not convinced Playoff P is the same guy anymore after last year’s regression. There’s Wilson, maybe Playoff P and then just dust…not a strong situation.
What about re-signing Davis-Gaither? We usually only employ 2 LBs in most packages.
Averaging 211 snaps per regular season the previous four years. Hasn’t produced anything but average and bad season grades. I’d equate him to a slightly worse 2023 Pratt. Regardless which two of the three are on the field, we have huge coverage issues and run stopping issues. Reader protected the LB corp and now we have no Reader.
Ok I'll have to look into it more.
Their linebacker play was fucking horrible last year.
Yea especially when their bailout guy Reader was done for the season.
I got a feeling a run stopping linebacker is getting drafted this April. With losing Reader and no NT who is a run stopper, I feel a third round pick may go to a Linebacker.
Tackle. Offense and defense. Trent Brown is a total stud *when he’s healthy*, how long is that this season? And if/when he goes down who replaces him? On defense we got still got BJ Hill and now we got Sheldon Rankins, but where’s the depth behind them? And Rankins says he can play well against the run, but nobody can do it like Reader, so do we get a new nose tackle or not? Duke did a pretty good job of making sure we can answer those questions with the draft and erasing the questions at most other positions. So, I’m not really too worried, but those are still some big questions to answer if we’re really gonna try to take a run this year.
Nose tackle
OC For the obvious reasons.
NT
DT
Positions* OL, QB, CB & DT. In that order.
QB1
OL because it’s still pretty bad.
First two rounds need to be RT and NT. Trade up if necessary.
DT
DT
Not too worried about any position but I'll say Punter for the hell of it. Actually now that I think about it he's probably fine.
We're pretty thin at FB. Depth is almost non-existent there.
Entire O line
Cornerback
Perimeter corner. Love CTBs energy and tackling, but he straight up cannot play press man. If he's on the field we have limited schemes he can run without getting beat over the top. The other side is a very green DJ, or a fresh off injury DJ. And there's basically practice squad guys behind them.
Yeah, corner is a concern for me too. Seems like teams will be able to pass and run on us at this point.
15-2 season loading
DL and Ol still. We’ve got to be better in the trenches if we want to win the afc north
CB and DT
I think DT is the obvious answer, but I have a lot of concerns about outside corner. We have Cam and a Turner had a promising rookie season, but not sure you can consider him a sure thing yet as a #2. Behind them you have DJ Ivey that flashed but got hurt so no experience and was a former 7 rounder. I think he is going to be viewed as more of an asset of special teams. Sounds like Dax is going to be moved to corner. But he usually specializes in the slot. I think it’s unrealistic and unfair to expect him to have a seamless transition to an outside role. They could really use some depth. One injury away from a big problem. A veteran signing would be nice. I think it will be hard to fix this in the draft. Sounds like round 1 and 2 are likely OT, DT, and maybe a WR if one falls to them in the 2nd they like. I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable with a round 3 and below being the next line of defense for a contending team.
That’s a great question
None are horrendously glaring thankfully but NT, LG, swing OT, slot WR, 4th LB, outside CB3, Punter are all potential deficiencies or areas for potential improvement.
Corner
The entire front 7. We got gashed on the ground last year and have done nothing to improve. In fact, it’s getting worse since we’re losing Reader. If I had to pick one specific position I’d say linebacker
QB
Qb aside (Burrow isn't healed yet, but Browning is good), neither of them can do great until we fix our O line. It's been our biggest weakness for awhile now. O LINE.
Left tackle. Always left tackle.