WhoDeyRevolution

Use Your Indoor Voices Please

As you can see on the right hand side of the page in the Bengals futility by numbers, our beloved franchise is still the northernmost NFL team without an indoor practice facility.  I was recently reading through some old Bengals news, and came across this gem by Mark Curnutte which states that in November of 2006 Marvin addressed Carson's complaint of not having an indoor facility with one sentence,"We're working on that."  Well Marvin... if construction started back then, shouldn't it be done by now?  It only takes Toyota a week to build a car. So how long would it really take to build an inexpensive indoor training facility???

Now some may argue that we don't need it, because the players should practice in real game conditions.  While there may be some merit to this argument, it doesn't take into consideration the amount of information that the coaches have to convey to the players within a week of practice.  Multitudes of new play and formation packages are presented to the players on any given week.  It makes it difficult to coach, and learn these packages in freezing rain, sleet, and snow.   The truth is when players get to this level, football becomes more of a mental game, which makes their concentration levels in practice utterly crucial.  Practicing in poor conditions makes it harder for players to concentrate, which makes the coach's messages less effective.

Another reason to practice inside when the weather is poor is to reduce the risk of injury.  How terrible would it be if one of our players, even worse a starter, got badly injured because they were making them practice in inclement weather?  So by Mike Brown saving the relatively small cost of building a facility, he is risking the possibility of losing the usefulness of his most important assets... His players.

Without sidetracking any further, the point is that we need to get an indoor facility at all costs.  Other teams (ie Brian Kelly and his UC Bearcats) are getting it done, while the Bengals clearly are not.  Maybe if we are lucky Mike Brown will weasel on to UC's indoor facility schedule in between the ladies' basketball and men's volleyball practices. 

If you agree with Brad Meeks, Carson Palmer, Brian Kelly, Scott Kooistra, and myself that the Bengals should have their own indoor training facility, then click here and post a comment to show your support. 

Bengals Draft 2008 - Other Players to Watch and Potential CFA's

DeJuan Tribble, CB, Boston College

A North College Hill graduate, Tribble had an extremely productive career for the Eagles, displaying big play ability in coverage and also returning punts/kicks.  He has had a few brushes with the law, but insiders at BC stand firmly behind the fact that Tribble is a stand up guy.  Plus, Bengals "scouts" won't have to go far to learn more about Tribble from his high school coaches here in Cincinnati.  If the character and size issues cause him to fall to the fifth round, Tribble could be a Bengal.

Mario Urrutia, WR, Louisville

Urrutia isn't exactly the big play, deep threat that Chris Henry was, but he is tall (over 6'5") and would be a perfect developmental/late round draft pick.  The Bengals worked him out and could potentially take him with their compensatory selection in the 6th round.

Kendall Langford, DE, Hampton

Always good to keep an eye on schools where Marvin Lewis has ties, and Lewis has had Hampton coaches in to PBS to speak to area youth football coaches on more than one occasion.  Langford would help a defensive line that desperately needs to force more pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Dexter Jackson, WR, Appalachian State

Out of the Eddie Royal mode, Jackson would be another shifty, small, and explosive receiver who can  also pay big dividends returning punts.  His two touchdowns against Michigan proved he can play with the big boys.

Jason Shirley, DT, Fresno State

The guy is massive:  6'5", 320 lbs.  Why is he not ranked higher than the 7th round?  Multiple off the field problems including DUI and conduct detrimental to the team.  Plus he was driving around with expired tags (a fan favorite among Hamilton County Sheriffs).  If he's still available as a CFA, and with the Bengals history for giving people second (aka twelfth) chances, Shirley is literally too big to pass up.

Other Players to Consider...

Steve Justice, C, Wake Forest

Haruki Nakamura, S, Cincinnati

Jo-Lonn Dunbar, OLB, Boston College

Kenny Moore, WR, Wake Forest (Led ACC in receptions last season with 98)

Letroy Guion, DT, Florida State

Chris Johnson, RB, East Carolina

Chad Rinehart, OG, Northern Iowa

Barry Booker, DT, Virginia Tech

Jonathan Goff, ILB, Vanderbilt

Joe Jon Finley, TE, Oklahoma (Also goes by J.J. Finley)

Jesse Nading, DE, Colorado State (This guy looks like Justin Smith's twin...right in the Bengals wheelhouse)

If you missed WDR's 10-pick Bengals mock draft, check it out right here. 

For the record, my new prediction for the Bengals first round pick is Vernon Gholston.  Too many negative vibes on him the last few weeks...and we know the Bengals love taking Buckeyes high in the draft.

WDR to Live Blog Draft

Tune into WhoDeyRevolution tomorrow as we "live blog" the NFL Draft.  We will be giving live updates as Glenn Dorsey and Sedrick Ellis are taken ahead of the #9 pick and as Roger Goodell walks to the podium and says: "With the #9 pick in the NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals select Rashard Mendenhall, Running Back, University of Illinois."

I am already emotionally preparing myself for the annual Bengals draft let down - I recommend all Bengals fans to the same. Numerous Miller Lites help soften the blow.

Mike Brown Unhappy With Cincinnati

Mike Brown went public yesterday with his misgivings against the city of Cincinnati at a press conference held on his diamond-encrusted zeppelin flying high above the tri-state.

“Cincinnati has skated by far too long for me to stand pat and do nothing about it,” Brown said while eating a foot long hot dog topped with gold-flaked caviar. “I am going to take my Bengals and my Stadium to Kentucky if the city can’t allocate a measly 500 million for stadium renovations and a fitting monument to me and my daughter for our heroic deeds the last 17 years. After all I’ve given to Cincinnati; it is a slap in the face that the legislature and the taxpayers will give nothing back. Not one iota of respect.”

“What kind of greedy town is this that I, a lowly and cash strapped businessman, is forced to foot the bill for a team that the city’s name is on.” Brown surmised before opening his wallet and showing he only had 3 one million dollar bills inside. “I wouldn’t complain about these sorts of slights if the name of the team was the Brown Bengals. But it isn’t.”

“I would have traded Chad Johnson yesterday if the city was willing to pay the salary cap hit, plus interest of course.” Brown said before casually kicking a toddler out the window of the Zeppelin. “Ooh, I’m a city councilman; I have more important things to worry about than a six story statue of Mike Brown gloriously leading an attack onto Ohio Beach. Ooh, look at me.”

The West Side announced today that it has begun construction on a soon to be used mausoleum for Brown.

Memo to Kirk Herbstreit: Join WhoDeyRevolution

While I was perusing the morning's newspapers/blogs, I came across this article in the Dayton Daily News.  The quick summary is, Kirk Herbstreet a self proclaimed "Bengals fan my entire life," says that Sedrick Ellis's character is TOO good for the Bengals.  He is worried that Ellis will fall into the "great abyss of the Cincinnati Bengals." 

Kirk, join WhoDeyRevolution, by the looks of this article you already agree with our Manifesto, and want fundamental change from the Brown Regime.

Bengal Hero: Tremain Mack

Chris Henry, Odell, Frostee Rucker, etc. are not the first character risks the Bengals have taken.  The Bengals have been taking huge character risks in the draft for quite some time now.  Obviously Mike Brown loves the draft value of a guy who’s slipped a round or four because of their giant red character flags.  Tremain Mack was the epitome of this.  Mike must have loved him some T-Mack because how else can a quote like this be explained.

Tremain's a very likable guy," said Mike Brown, Bengals owner/general manager. "But to read the media accounts a year ago, you would think he and John Dillinger were cellmates.  (What??? John Dillinger???  Who the hell is that???  Ohhhh, a famous bank robber from the Great Depression, what a hip reference for the end of the 20th century.  Now if Mike had said T-Mack would have been a great getaway driver then I would have loved it)

Tremain Mack was drafted out of the U by the Bengals in the 4th round of the 1997 NFL draft (Another paragon of morals values Corey Dillon was also taken by the Bengals in this draft). This Hurricane was rated as a first round talent at the time but somehow T-Mack slipped to the 111th pick of the draft.  While the rest of the NFL seemingly took him off their draft boards the Bengals apparently saw a talent that just couldn’t be ignored. Now you might be wondering why the rest of the NFL didn’t want to draft T-Mack.  After all he was 1st team All Big East and a special teams dynamo at Miami. Well I’m going to go out on a limb and say the answer probably had something to do with T-Mack’s SIX alcoholic related arrests in his 4 years as a Hurricane and that even BUTCH DAVIS suspended him because of a DUI.  Now in all fairness to the Bengals they apparently claimed they didn’t know the severity of T-Mack’s problems.  I guess the Bengals three scouts not related to the Brown family missed that little nugget. 

But just for now I’m going to ignore all the Bengals idiocy and mismanagement because quite simply T-Mack was the best Bengals kick returner of my lifetime. His best season was 1999 when T-Mack led the AFC in kick returning average and set a Bengal club-record averaging 27.1 yards per return.  This season was made even more amazing because T-Mack didn’t play in the first four games of the season after shockingly being suspended by Commissioner Tagliabue after another DUI arrest.  T-Mack’s off-season conditioning program consisted of spending his summer locked up in the Hamilton County Jail (Jamal Lewis has nothing on T-Mack).  So when he came out for the 5th game of the 1999 season he came out blazing.  Personally I loved Tremain Mack because on every kick off (and there were lots of kicks to return in 1999 as the Bengals started 1-10 on their way to another 4-12 season while they closed Riverfront Stadium in style) I imagined special teams coach Al Roberts telling him to just pretend like he was running from the law.  It must have worked because T-Mack ran so well from the law in 1999 that he was chosen as the AFC’s kick returner in the Pro-Bowl. From county jail to Honolulu all in span of one season. Simply amazing!!!

Sadly as you may have heard T-Mack didn’t have a happy ending with the Bengals.  T-Mack could only run from the law for so long.  He continued to rack up DUI’s at a record pace including one that would have made Bob Huggins proud when the Cincinnati police arrested Mack after finding him sleeping behind the wheel of a car at 3:45 a.m. Surprisingly the cops got suspicious after Mack's vehicle had been parked in the middle of a Clifton intersection for at least an hour.  This Huggins style arrest came two years after WLWT-TV (Channel 5) caught Mack on tape driving to and from Paul Brown Stadium with a suspended license, from the two DUI charges he’d already picked up in Hamilton County. That was great piece of Cheaters style investigative journalism, but the Bengals front office was not pleased with the report referring to the report as a sting operation (more importantly where was channel 5 when we needed them to follow Chris Henry around? you know you would have watched it).  After some more jail time T-Mack was done with the NFL but on the Brightside seems to have cleaned up his life eventually suiting up for the Arena Football San Jose SaberCats. 

But I’ll always remember T-Mack as a bald headed demon who ran like the he heard police sirens blaring behind him.  For T-Mack was running from the law and into the hearts of Bengal fans everywhere. Tremain Mack a Bengal Hero.

T-Mack is the second in what hopes to be a long series of Bengal Hero profiles.  (If you missed part one you can read all about Jeff Query’s glorious 1993 season right here.) 

Join the revolution here

Brown Economics

For those unfamiliar with the premise of the Mel Brooks play The Producers, let me summarize in order to draw an interesting parallel: basically, the producers of a play discover that they can actually make more money by putting out a flop than they can with a hit play.  It would appear that this is Mike Brown's favorite musical of all time, as he has apparently found a way to apply this economic stratagem to Professional Football. 

Should you think I am exaggerating, let me direct your attention to our "Bengals' Futility - By The Numbers" section on the right hand side of the page.  You will notice that, not only has Mike Brown NEVER won a playoff game in his 17 years of ownership, but he was also voted by Forbes magazine (they know a little bit about money management) as the second WORST owner in all of professional sports.  And yet, in all this time, the Cincinnati Bengals organization continues to turn a profit, including a reported operating income of nearly $21 million in 2005, as pointed out by Comrade Simon in his review of the Bengal's scouting department. 

The primary problem we have with Mike Brown--and this is no more apparent than right now given the Chad Johnson fiasco--is that he continues to look at football the way that a CFO would view a balance sheet.  And therein lies the problem.  Mike Brown is NOT a CFO; he is the owner, a position much more akin to being a CEO.  The job of a CEO, in addition to making fiscally responsible decisions, is to create a broad vision and growth strategy for an organization; to deliver a clear and concise mission and to ensure that all employs work towards the realization of that mission; in short, Mike Brown's job, as clearly stated in Manifesto Demand #1, is to make a public statement to us, the fans, “I will do everything in my power to help the Cincinnati Bengals win a Super Bowl."

There is no doubt that Mike Brown is a shrewd businessman (from a dollars and cents perspective) and would continue to have value at the negotiating table.  But as long as he continues to think of the Cincinnati Bengals as a collection of assests whose value he can assess like a P&L statement, we won't go anywhere.  Maybe you can calculate amortization and depreciation in Pro Football--although the assets, in this case, are football players, whose value is more volatile and ever-changing than any stock out there--but Brown appears to do this with such short-sightedness that he ends up recycling run-down players he thinks are a "bargain" (see Sam Adams, Dexter Jackson, etc.)  We'd like him to exercise a little more foresight and take a risk on young talent in the Draft, rather than obstinately sitting on his ass while Chad rots on the sidelines.  The only way to move a team forward is to have a long-term vision--we as fans could care less if you have healthy profit margins (which, we all know, will come if you put a better product on the field).

Comrade Pellegrino, a lawyer by trade, has laid out a great scenario by which we could trade Chad and take advantage of the great offer (potentially two First Round picks) from the Redskins.  I get a sinking feeling in my stomach every time I read a great article like this because I seriously question whether the Bengals' front office is even aware of these potential moves.  I mean, they already massively screwed up the Shawn Rogers trade this offseason, so how can we not question the abilities of this group?

I urge all the fans out there to join the WhoDeyRevolution here, and follow that up by creating as much buzz as possible to get the Bengals to execute a trade for Chad Johnson.  If the Bengals' front office can't figure out how to do it, send them our way.

Brown to Millen, "Can You Top This?"

In a show of disrespect to Lions GM Matt Millen, Mike Brown has recently called him out for horning in on his formula for failure.

"I used to respect Matt Millen for his innovative draft approach," Brown said at a Press Conference inside his mansion made of gold. "But now I'm beginning to feel like he needs to stop trying to be like the Bengals. Signing Kitna is one thing. I understand that. All my scouts in the know rave about his small hands and faith in the almighty to convert that wobbly 20 yard out. But I can't stand pat while some other guy steals my thunder on draft day. Well I will stand pat, but you understand the figurative sense of the saying."

"First off, I learned a great deal from Mike Brown before I became a GM. HIs shrewd maneuvers and bold strategies have built the Bengals into the powderkeg they are today," Millen said. "But I am insulted by his claim that I am stealing anyhting from him. My draft strategy is simple. I write down a ranked list of receivers and hand it to the NFL before the draft. I go golfing. The NFL then selects the highest ranked receiver on the list for me when the Lions are up every round."

Mike Brown couldn't be reached for further comment, but he did send our headquarters a personal scouting report scrapbook of his favorite draft picks.

Justin Smith - Opposing Scout in AFC North - "No mental grasp of game. Run counters and misdirection plays against him. Has one move; Bull Rush. Never Swims or Spins. We'll miss him."

Akili Smith - Opposing Scout in AFC North - "Successful TV actor on Chappelle's Show. Catchphrase, I'M RICH, BITCH."

Chris Perry - Anonymous Scout - "His body is made out of particle board. Or has Rocco Baldelli's Disease. Or both."

Dan Wilkinson - MIke Brown - "Had to draft him after personal workout. He ate a 96 ounce steak in 16 seconds. Thought it correllated well with Draft Analysts saying he could swallow up a running game."

How the Bengals Trade Chad Johnson

When the news broke about the Washington Redskins trade offer, many Bengals fans, including myself, thought we were out of our minds not to accept it.  After further thought, the salary cap implications require deeper consideration.  Washington's trade offer would allow us to receive the 21st overall pick this year and a conditional 2009 3rd round pick that could potentially become a 2nd rounder if he has 80 receptions next season, or even a 1st rounder if Chad catches 95 balls in his new home.  But not only would we have the $8.03 million in dead money as a result of dealing Chad, we would also be on the hook for an additional expensive first round contract.

However, with some simple moves, trading Chad Johnson is entirely possible. The worry is that the Bengals front office is not considering all factors, including cost cutting measures that should be taken anyway after the draft. 

Designate the Trade as a Post-June 1 Transaction

First and foremost, the transaction would have to be designated as a post-June 1 transaction so that we could split the salary cap hit between this year and next.  According to some estimates, that would reduce the salary cap hit from $8.03 million to a manageable cap charge in the neighborhood of $3-million for 2008.

Cut Replaceable Players

Secondly, we should be getting rid of some expensive, replaceable players.  This should be done regardless of whether we trade Chad Johnson and hopefully, our front office is thinking along these lines.  For example, if we get Sedrick Ellis or a solid Defensive Tackle in the second round, we should release Defensive Tackle, John Thornton, which would save $4 million in salary.  Similarly, if we are comfortable with any Safety or Cornerback that we get in the draft, we should consider cutting Dexter Jackson (which would save $1.25 million) and/or Deltha O’Neal (which would save $1.77 million).  The point is that these players potentially can be replaced with younger guys for a lower cost without a significant drop in performance.  Let’s face it, our D-line has been terrible for years so how good could John Thornton be?  He has not gotten to the Quarterback.  Our D-Line has been terrible against the run and he has not demanded additional attention to free up our Defensive Ends and Linebackers.  He’s certainly not earning his current salary of $4.625 million.  We should have gotten rid of Thornton awhile ago and we certainly should if we get finally get the DT we’ve been looking for in the draft.  Now, more than ever, if we decide to trade Chad, Thornton should certainly go. 

Similarly, if we wind up taking a Cornerback or Safety because of value that cannot be passed up in the 2008 draft, Dexter and/or Deltha should potentially follow.  We have two young promising safeties and two young starting Cornerbacks and we only have both Dexter and Deltha for one more year.  They will eventually need to be replaced after this year anyway.  Deltha is currently the Nickel Back and should we obtain a Cornerback that can fill that spot and back up Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph, waiving Deltha O’Neil and saving $1.77 million should be strongly considered. 

Finally, on the off chance Darren McFadden falls or we feel we are getting value at running back in the second or third round, cutting Rudi Johnson should be a consideration as well (which would save $2.95 million).  Again, all of these moves should be considered whether we trade Chad Johnson or not.  These players are not performing up to their salary levels and can be replaced with younger, cheaper players.

Consider Trading Him for 2009 or 2010 picks

Moreover, if the Redskins did offer this compensation but we simply cannot afford to pay two 2008 first round picks (even after making any sensible cuts), why not make the trade for 2009 or even 2010 first round picks?  Surely these picks will help for the future and the salary cap hit could be absorbed more easily.  If Washington is willing to give up this year’s first round pick and a 2009 conditional third round pick that could become a first round pick next year, they certainly would give up first round picks beyond this year’s NFL draft.

Trading Chad Johnson is entirely possible due to spreading the cap hit over 2 years, cutting replaceable players and potentially trading for future picks if accepting the Redskins' offer as-is doesn’t work financially.  There seems to be a growing contingent of Bengals fans that would like us to not budge from our position and let Chad Johnson hold out or sit on the bench for 3 years.  While that sounds good for spite, payback and perhaps setting a precedent for other players down the line, it is simply not the best thing for our football team.  Despite Chad’s terrible behavior of late, we will be losing a lot of his production on the field.  We should absolutely get some value out of him and be certain to get multiple players that can contribute positively to our team and not behave like emotional toddlers.  Also, the distraction of Chad can no longer linger.  He has blasted the organization, Marvin Lewis and most recently, Carson Palmer.  Even if we are calling his bluff and he reports to camp, the crowds at Georgetown and Paul Brown Stadium, the local media and fans throughout Cincinnati will not welcome him with open arms.  Chad does not have the emotional strength to handle another negative season and will likely implode again if he gets back on the field in Cincinnati.  Had we made this trade today, the CJ drama would have been over and we would have been salivating over who we would take with our new 21^st overall pick. 

Instead, yesterday, we chose to keep the problem on our team.  Hopefully, our front office is taking advantage of the fact that this offer has been made public in an effort to attract other offers to make an even better deal on draft day.  If this is the thought, it is a shrewd move and should be commended as we would be letting the situation develop rather than jumping on what was perhaps the first offer.  Unfortunately, based on past history, that is not likely and these headaches will linger.  I’m certainly rooting against history and for a trade, but the case against sound reason and logic is a strong one:

Exhibit A: Not accepting 9 draft picks from the New Orleans Saints and instead opting to draft Akili Smith with the 3rd overall pick of the 1999 NFL Draft.

Exhibit B: The Bengals tolerance of Corey Dillon and Carl Pickens

But we, as football fans, love the NFL draft because it provides all 32 teams an opportunity to start making improvements.  Here’s to hoping for change, ending the headaches, cutting ties with Chad Johnson and “blowing it up” like Marvin Lewis said we would.  Since the end of the 2007 season, Chad has rendered himself useless to this organization and likely won’t positively contribute for the Bengals.  We might as well get as much as we can for him.

The Optimists View- The Coulds and Shoulds of Bengaldom

So I am not going to sit here and pretend that life is great in Bengaldom. It is far from that. Crappy Management, bitchy Pro-bowlers, injuries all over…but for just a few minutes…let’s look at the other side of all of that. Take away the fact that the last big time free agent we signed was Dexter Jackson? and also let's not look at the stat saying we haven’t won a playoff game since 1988…I have often considered myself an optimist, so lets look at the fact that we are two seasons removed from being the AFC North CHAMPIONS. That the Cincinnati Bengals were a dominant force that teams were scared to play. Our offense could score at will, and our defense could cause a turnover every play. Ok, I know everyone just smiled a little reminiscing about the past…Now, let’s take a look at what we currently have that could bring the Bengals back to greatness…
    First, the 2008-9 Cincinnati Bengals have one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Sir Carson Palmer, as I like to call him (because if he has not been knighted yet, the queen needs to put down her tea and crumpets and just do it). He is a person who you want to have the ball come crunch time (and he WANTS the ball.) His perfect spirals could turn my JV high school team into a playoff contender. Carson Palmer is someone who should always make your team great.
    Although our WR core is a bit in shambles, we still have some of the best talent around. You know T.J. “I am the hardest man in football” Houshmandzadeh is going to come up big, in whatever role he is given. Also, let’s remember that Chad Johnson is still a member of this team and Mike Brown has pretty much proved he will not be traded. Yes, he said he will never play for the Bengals again, and yes he has bitched and moaned more than my ex-girlfriend during “that time of the month” but last time I checked, he is still a Bengal. Some analysts are predicting the Kobe Bryant effect. He will demand a trade, threaten to sit out, and than when it comes time for the season, and he is still in the orange and black, he will put on the pads and perform. If he really wants out and wants to be traded to a legit contender, he has to improve his reputation and what better way to do that than by sucking up your pride and catching 20 TDs in one season? That might bring in a few more offers.
    Yes Chris Henry is gone, but Hello Draft!!!…we can easily pick up a third WR that can come in and immediately contribute. We singed Doug Gabriel, and even though he is no Pro bowl WR, he brings a little experience and can make catches when necessary. Worst case, he can tell Mike Zimmer all of the Patriots trick plays from two seasons ago.
    Now who do we have protecting our fearless leader? Only two of the better OTs in the game. Although Willie is on the older side, when healthy, he is still one of the best, and with a healthy Levi Jones on the other side, Sir Carson should have all day to pick apart defenses. Remember, last year, both Willie and Levi missed all of preseason and both were rushed back onto the field which limited their productivity. Now both have had a year to recuperate and are ready to wreak havoc.
    *Side note-Who wants to put money that the Bengals draft, yet ANOTHER RB, this Saturday? I think it is in the Bengals contract with the NFL that they employ at least one RB every year who will inevitably end up on the IR. I have an idea. Why not save a draft pick and just sign Shaun Alexander? You know he’ll get injured during the preseason, so play the karma card and save one of your rookies. - back to the article*
    Now what do we currently have at RB? Rudi Johnson. Rudi had a bad year. Period. But, he is an extremely prideful person and you know he wants to remedy his name. He has put on a few pounds and is ready to play smash mouth football once again. Hello 2005! (Please). Let us all remember that when Rudi went down, last season, Kenny Watson was a solid replacement, and DD Dorsey actually averaged 8.7 yards per carry. Maybe we should give him a few more snaps??? Mix that with the fact that we have a former first rounder who is just itching to come back and prove his is worth two years of paychecks while he was one the IR (Chris Perry) and that Kenny Irons is on the bench waiting to make his NFL debut (he was a pretty good prospect last year)…our RB core COULD be pretty solid.
    Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we singed Ben Utecht…someone who is a bit unproven but possess all of the right tools to become a star in a big BIG way with Sir Carson behind him.
    Now for defense. This is what makes people cringe. Our defense is bad. Very bad. But could they be pretty good? The answer is yes.  How, you say? Talent and potential. I am not sitting here, saying that they can magically come together and all of a sudden become the strongest defense in the league, but with some intelligent management and a smart draft, they can sure as hell be respectable. They can definitely be good enough to let the offense try and win a few games.
    We all know the number one need is a DT. That is a fact, but we have a great chance of picking up a game changer this Saturday. Also, let’s not forget about Demata Peko. He is big, smart, and has a few seasons of experience under his belt. Peko and USC’s Sedrick Ellis could be a force in the middle. Alone, Peko will probably underperform, like the past two seasons, but oh boy what could be there.
    What was the weakest part of the 2007-2008 Bengals? Our LBs. Why? Because of injury. You can never predict injury…so I am going to go with the “everyone will be healthy all season” mentality.
    If we play the 4-3, which the Bengals most likely will, we have (don’t slam me too hard for this) potentially two of the best middle linebackers in the business. The only problem is Ahmad Brooks is unproven (and injury prone), and Odell Thurman is two years out of the league. (WELCOME BACK ODELL!!!) Forget all of that, though. When they are back, fit, healthy, and ripping and punishing the pittsburgh steeler’s, everyone will be more than happy. Brooks possesses as much scary athleticism as anyone in the league (he is 6’4”, 270 lbs) and Thurman should have been the defensive rookie of the year in 2005. Together they could be great.
    Another big question mark. Our DBs. Jonathan Joseph is good. He is fast, he is smart, he is young, and he will perform. But…Leon Hall might be the key to the defense. He has a year experience under his belt, is scary smart, and has learned from him mistakes last season. Go back and look at his stats; he did end up with 5 interceptions last season (not bad for a rookie).  He is the key and if he playing well, our defense might be able to break the top 20 (sad that top 20 is respectable) for the first time in a few seasons.
    Chinedum Ndukwe and Marvin White are a bit unproven, yes, but are also young, talented, and out to make names for themselves. Both of these kids should be fun to watch and you know they will learn from every snap that they take. They might make a few mistakes early, but hopefully they mesh as a unit and become a solid force. I think that the two safeties, Hall, and Joseph can become a group that no one wants to mess with.
    Rushing the opposing team’s quarterback has never been the Bengals strong suit, but now that “Bustin” Smith is gone…things can only go up? Right? Antwan Odom had a great season last year (even though a few of his sacks were gifts at the end of the season (and he was playing behind an all-Pro d-line)) but he is ready to show that his numbers were no fluke. With a smart second or third round draft pick, we can probably pick up someone to help solidify this position.
Also, on defense, we FINALLY have a legit defensive coordinator and one of the best LB coaches in the league. Look at how good the Ravens LB core has been…maybe Fitzgerald can turn Ahmad or Odell into the next Ray Ray Lewis.
    Now, to bring everyone back to reality. Everything above is what COULD happen with the potential and talent on the Bengals. Is it possible? Definitely. Is it going to happen? Not without some drastic changes from the management. The upcoming draft is the make or break for this season, and I don’t know about you all…wait, yes I do…I know exactly how you feel. You want to take all of our potential… a QB in his prime, some Pro-Bowl WRs, and a scary athletic defense, and finally WIN. Mr. Brown…we are tired of waiting. Please help fix this so we can once again be proud of the WHO DEY.