Stockpiling Explosives

The most complicated team in the NFL added to its strange intrigue by drafting talented players with baggage. Once again, the Bengal brains have selected the yellow-cake uranium of young talent to refine in the team’s centrifuges and hope for the best. If these new players are only discussed about their football careers, then this could become the best of Marvin’s drafts; if the team finishes with six wins or less and the locker room is filled with nothing but egos and anarchy, Marvin packs his bags. Either way, the Bengals filled some key spots with some impressive rookies.

Andre Smith is the perfect fit for the offense. A ferocious run-blocker, Smith becomes an immediate upgrade over Stacy Andrews at right tackle, and allows Anthony Collins to stay at left tackle; a position he looked comfortable in last season. Smith has been knocked for his inconsistencies and giving up on plays, but he has no serious health issues and was everybody’s draft darling before the compound. With Smith, Collins, Luigs and Whitworth in as starters, the youth movement is in full-effect up front.

This is not to say that they will be worse because they’re young. Levi Jones will be cut any day now, Stacy Andrews and Eric Ghuiciuc weren’t offered new contracts and, sadly, Willie Anderson is gone forever. The pressure is on offensive line coach, Paul Alexander. There’s a lot of good clay to be molded within this bunch; one would expect to see success fairly soon.

The second pick was mind blowing. Rey Maualuga: the man I’ve coveted for so long, who I would have taken at number six without hesitation, somehow remained on the board when the Bengals turn came up again, and we did the unthinkable, we drafted him. This, the most exciting draft pick since Carson Palmer, was reason to whoop and holler about. How could this have happened to us? All the fuss over inconsistent play, an average combine and college party life allowed an animal like that to slip past every other team in the league. Suckers.

Rey is a wrecking ball that runs through walls and plays with the same kind of insanity that the great ones are known for. He immediately helps the Bengals’ run defense, as he’s good-sized (249) and can plug up the middle running lanes as well as seek-and-destroy when backs run outside of the tackles. College teammate Keith Rivers will be leaned on more heavily to cover tight ends and running backs on passing plays. Brandon Johnson showed nice coverage skills last year and will likely play more in nickel packages as a result. Dhani Jones will rotate in for Maualuga and hopefully be a kind of mentor to bring him along – possibly off the field too. Rey should blend well with the familiar Rivers and the veteran Jones.

He’s the most exciting pick draft pick since Carson Palmer, and could be the defensive rookie of the year. In Rey, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and linebackers coach Jeff Fitzgerald, have a piece to the defense that might become a Pro-Bowler very soon.

Tight End Chase Coffman is a pass-catching tight end that might actually be able to catch passes (free-agent tight end Ben Utecht, was unable to live up to a similar moniker, and I expect will soon be cut). Perhaps Coffman can become the third-down tight end that the Bengals have sought after for so long. Like Jones for Maualuga, consummate pro Reggie Kelly can show Coffman the ropes around the NFL.

The new center from Arkansas,Luigs, fell outside of the coveted top-3 prospect at his position. With no decent center on the team and already in the fourth round, the Bengals got a guy who may still turn out to be pretty good. He has been called a finesse center and Bengal fans know the terrible effects those can have in a division where giant nose-tackles roam the countryside looking to ransack smallish centers. He’s listed at 301 lbs. – which is big enough for a center – but it would have made the pick sweeter had Luigs been called powerful or strong somewhere in his scouting report.

In Marvin’s never-ending quest for more pass rush, he added the 6'7'’ speed rusher, Michael Johnson. The depth at defensive end looks solid now as Johnson joins Odom, Geathers, Rucker and Fanene. Johnson was another player criticized for a low work ethic and giving up on plays, but he has tremendous upsize if he decides that he likes football.

The Bengals were also able to score a fullback, Fui Vakapuna; a critical upgrade that was a major problem last year. They also helped themselves in special teams when they took local punter, Kevin Huber. It’s encouraging to know that the team isn’t satisfied with the shaky work of long-time punter Kyle “Beth” Larson.

In a sure sign of addressing their concerns, the Bengals chose only four defensive players out of their 11 selections. I wouldn’t expect many problems with this draft class. On the field, they’ve helped the team form what looks like a promising foundation on both sides of the ball. Off the field, they’re a wild card, but ultimately they would probably prefer to just play football.

Mojokong – still waiting for the NFL to come and take Maualuga away from us. It just can’t be true that he's ours.

Enter The Dragon: 2009 Schedule

The 2009 Bengals schedule has been released and the labyrinth looks – at first glance – a little less lethal than in years past.

The opener against Denver this year, isn't as scary for a couple of reasons. New coach Josh McDaniels, gets the incredibly average Kyle Orton to showcase his new system, while the defense still has glaring holes leftover from last season. Plus it’s a home game for the Bengals and statistics say that’s important.

Early battles (at Green Bay then back home for the Steelers) will show fans just what’s under the hood of this year’s hooptie. Steal a win in either of those games and watch the people of Cincinnati begin to come out of their holes nestled into the hillsides. Starting out 2-1 would make the Indian Summer a bit more golden around these parts, but beware, dropping the first three games is far more likely.

Unfortunately, the term “must-win” could be labeled for the Week 4 matchup in Cleveland. Lose that one too and you’re headed to Baltimore and on the verge of an 0-5 start. The familiar sinking feeling resonates somewhere in my chest just thinking of another abysmal start like that, but all too often, that is the way.

The second half appears far more doable with softies like Oakland, KC, Detroit and Cleveland again – not to mention a Jets team that could be awful this season. The Bears and Texans both come to town in October and the world isn’t sure of what to expect from either team in ‘09; the Vikings are another unknown variable heading into training camp and could turn out to be an easier opponent. Hopefully it still matters by Week 14.

The crystal ball strongly suggests that a 6-10 season is at hand. All the makings are there; the stars have spoken. But, like you, I am a Bengals fan, so they get one more win.

Mojokong – 7-9

The New Tank in Town

Fears of character issues among Bengal players resurfaced this week with the signing of Tank Johnson and Leon Hall’s DUI charge.

Driving under the influence is going to happen to the best of us as long as people transport themselves to places where alcohol is served. No one (sober) would tell you that driving drunk is ever a good idea, but almost everyone who drinks and has a car has at one time has pushed their legal limits. Leon Hall may not have considered himself all that drunk, but he acted on an illegal impulse and it cost him. It doesn’t make him villain or a scourge on the team, it makes him a young guy who learned a tough lesson the hard way; shit happens.

Tank Johnson, on the other hand, has a history that sounds more like a mobster than a defensive tackle: arrested on two separate guns charges (one of which police discovered two assault rifles and four other firearms in his home), fighting with police and getting maced, employing a body guard who was later murdered – this guy sounds scary! Gun crime is unacceptable and the league should show more intolerance on the issue.

But as a player, Tank’s not a bad signing: he signed at the minimum, he’s only 27, he played all year last year with the Cowboys, he adds depth to the tackle rotation and he’s comfortable with the way Zimmer plans on using him. If he reverts to his gangster-rapper lifestyle, the Bengals can cut him without any financial repercussion – only some PR repercussion, which seems damaged beyond repair anyway.

The way a fan looks at character issues is really an evaluation of that person’s priorities. What’s more important, winning games or safer communities? If you’re concerned that the Bengals are bringing in a man who is lethally dangerous to the Cincinnati area, you have a good point. Then again, if you were worried about having only two decent defensive tackles on the team, then you got what you wanted.

In all honesty, Tank should probably not be allowed to play in the NFL, but if he’s going to, it may as well be here. I just hope nobody gets hurt in the process.

How interesting that it’s Leon Hall who was arrested, yet it’s Tank Johnson that invokes more fear by merely joining the team. This is why fans should try to look at legal incidents involving players on a case-by-case basis, and not group all infractions as the same type of problem for the team.

Mojokong – you can have a gun, but if you break the law in any way with your gun, the state should throw the book at you every time. No leniency on gun crime.