AFC North Blog on ESPN.com
February 18th, 2009 | Bengals
I read James Walker’s blog on ESPN.com from time to time. He used to cover the Bengals for the Columbus Dispatch(I think). I have seen him in the locker room from time to time. Apparently his opinion of the Bengals isn’t too high. He thinks its time to part ways with TJ and Chad and start over. I don’t totally agree with his assessment. But that’s his opinion. I wish these guys would detail what plan of action they would take. Like let TJ go and play the young WR’s? Then trade Chad and get more picks and draft Defense? What would James do? That would give more credibility to their statements and I wouldn’t view it as Bengal bashing. Because I am sure that if Chad comes out next season and has a career year, thy will be saying how smart of a decision it was to not trade him. Either way, it is a good read if you want to keep up on the AFC North.
6 Responses to AFC North Blog on ESPN.com
RobTate
February 18th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Intimidating NFL Players
I thought it would be interesting to get your take on playing NCF North football. I always hear about the D in Baltimore and Pitt and your Tennessee D trying to intimidate other teams/the Bengals. Does this happen in the NFL?? Can the Bengals O line get intimated by James Harrison or Ray Lewis? Easy for me to say but I sure hope not.
Love the blog.
Thanks John,
Rob
Gary
February 18th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Mr. Thornton. I am a huge bengals fan that grew up in Cincy and I live in Oklahoma now. Made the trip to Dallas to watch you guys and made the trips to KC also. I appreciate you and your attitude and your work ethic. Thanks for being a real athlete and a real person. Hope you stay in Cincy. Good luck and God bless!
Gordon Brown
February 18th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I’ve been very vocal about the need to let the Toxic Two go. Far as I’m concerned, once a player expresses publicly that he wants out, that relationsip- fan/player or team/player- is over. It’s not about the feeling; we all have problems with bosses and/or co-workers from time to time but the honorable and proper way to resolve such disputes is in house. Once Chad behaved the way he did last off-season, once T.J. started thinking out loud about other teams on his recent radio tour, I was done with them as a fan- and Chad should have been in Washington for a couple first rounders last year anyway. Don’t get me wrong, Chad’s beef with the organization was spot on, he just went about it all wrong.
That said, I’d like to see both receivers traded prior to the draft for whatever we can get. Allowing T.J. to walk for some nebulous future comp. pick doesn’t cut it. A straight up trade, T.J. for either of the Eagles’ first round picks(21 & 28, I think) would be a good start, plus we might also get a third or fourth in the bargain. Chad, on the other hand, due both his last offseason behavior and his lack of production this year, is probably not worth as much as his talent might indicate but, honestly, some line depth on either side of the ball would do.
In my scenario, we draft Jeremy Maclin at 6- unless something weird happens and Crabtree slips that far. In the interim, we’ve moved a healthy Stacy Andrews to guard opposite Bobbie Williams, with Whit and Collins at right and left tackle, respectively. That done, at 21 or 28, we take the best available out of, say, Laurinaitis, Maybin, Brandon Pettigrew, OU guard, Duke Robinson, or Brian Cushing(ILB, USC). My preference would probably be Cushing- big, fast, and hits like a truck. With our 6th pick in the second round, we go either Alex Mack or Max Unger, if they’re available. If they’re not, we’ll look for Antoine Cladwell, Jonathan Luigs, or Eric Wood later and, depending on what we did at 20 or 28, go for a running back- Knowshon Moreno or Shonn Greene, or a pass rusher- I’m really liking UC’s Connor Barwin who could double at tight end in a pinch.
That’s what I would do, but I’m not James Walker and, honestly, he pays little attention to the Bengals on that blog.
admin
February 18th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Very good breakdown. I was going to mention that Walker doesn’t talk much about the Bengals but I didn’t wanna seem like a homer. I mean, he only has four teams to cover……seems like he only covers two.
Cory
February 18th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
Say TJ’s gone, and Chad will stick around. I still believe Chad can be a solid receiver as long as he wants to play in Cincy. In my opinion I think the young guys could step in and do the job if given the chance. You guys turned the D around last year and I believe it is on track to become a solid top ten D. That said with the 6th pick i feel the Bengals really need to sure up the OL. Levi Jones isn’t cutting it and may be gone, Stacey Andrews may not even be ready for the start of next year if he even signs. Draft a solid LT who will be around a while, Collins can play RT. That would sure up the OL dramatically. What do u think?
Paul M
February 19th, 2009 at 3:37 am
Let me start off by saying that the bengals really need a good tackle .One that will stick around.Any great football team will have an excellent offensive line. As far as t.j. and chad are concerned if carson does not have the time to throw the ball they both become ineffective. My only hope is that we go offensive line in the draft and shore it up well then we will see how good this offense can be.
just a thought,
paul