Thursday, August 12, 2010
Canton experience coming soon
I'll have my trip to Canton up soon, after I deal with some Bullcrap. It should probably be around Monday
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Inception review
Sorry this is late, but I had to withhold it for a while. It's not like you guys were dying for this anyways.
Inception was unquestionably the best movie I've ever seen in theaters. In fact, the only movie that has gotten close has been District 9. Inception was something else though.
First off, I'd just like to point out that Christopher Nolan is the best director today. He is great at creating suspense and can make a movie that the audience must pay attention to for the entire showing. They require actual thought throughout, but the idea is still explained without leaving too much confusion.
The acting in Inception was amazing. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gave the best performance, followed by Ellen Page. That's not to say the other actors weren't up to par, but these two deserve nominations. Ellen Page was especially notable. Not just because I love her (She reminds me of a good friend), but she was surrounded with great talent and shined. Just this movie alone should get her out of the Dramady genre that seemed to be what she was pegged in.
While special effects aren't really involved in my grade of a movie, I have to say that Inception blew me away here. I felt like I was in the dream world and that I could be an architect. When the city just started to bend in half, I just shook my head at how seamless it was.
As for actual content, Inception was even better. For every part that I was questioning, it was answered 10 minutes later. There was a very nice portion of action, but not too much that I was left wondering, "Where is the story?"
The pacing was occasionally off but never went too slow or fast, which is more impressive for being a 2 1/2 hour long movie. The ending, while I won't ruin it, was very nicely left open to interpretation.
All in all, this is easily the best movie of the year. With a nice mix of action and story, along with amazing performances, there is no reason why Inception shouldn't win an Oscar for best movie of the year, because I don't see any upcoming movie that should challenge it. It's already in my top 3 favorite movies of all time.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Inception is coming out on Friday
This really shouldn't be posted, but I'm so hyped about this movie that it had to. Inception is going to be the naughty armadillo of all movies. There is almost no way that this movie will be bad and if it disappoints me in any way, I'll off myself. So bleh bleh bleh
Monday, June 28, 2010
Toy Story 3 = Banana Nut Muffins of Awesome *Will Not Contain Spoilers*
*Warning: Will Contain Spoilers*
Before I actually start the review, I have to say that nothing will beat the first Toy Story. But Toy Story 3 came as close to it as possible. From the first 10 minutes of the movie, I was laughing. The subtle Sid cameo was great (He was the garbage man. Look at the shirt). Every way Pixar made the toys' situations very adult were amazing. The daycare was a prison, the older toys were part of the mafia, and they almost frigging died!
I think the one thing that Pixar is improving on is making their movies more emotional. However, I think the slight downfall of this movie was that they tried to make it all incredibly depressing.
Although this movie is still made for children under 12, the movie has various toys lost, thrown away, almost die, and then given away. There is nothing wrong with having an emotional scene, but the movie went to far.
Still, overall the movie was better than the 2nd. It's also definitely high up on my list of favorite animated movies. It was funny throughout, sad, and even epic. So I definitely recommend watching it...twice.
Next movie up...Inception
Before I actually start the review, I have to say that nothing will beat the first Toy Story. But Toy Story 3 came as close to it as possible. From the first 10 minutes of the movie, I was laughing. The subtle Sid cameo was great (He was the garbage man. Look at the shirt). Every way Pixar made the toys' situations very adult were amazing. The daycare was a prison, the older toys were part of the mafia, and they almost frigging died!
I think the one thing that Pixar is improving on is making their movies more emotional. However, I think the slight downfall of this movie was that they tried to make it all incredibly depressing.
Although this movie is still made for children under 12, the movie has various toys lost, thrown away, almost die, and then given away. There is nothing wrong with having an emotional scene, but the movie went to far.Still, overall the movie was better than the 2nd. It's also definitely high up on my list of favorite animated movies. It was funny throughout, sad, and even epic. So I definitely recommend watching it...twice.
Next movie up...Inception
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Why the Bengals are going to tear shit up
Now I know that we haven't really posted anything lately, but there hasn't been anything going on. So sorry to you 'loyal' followers. So here's some filler with a prediction of the team before they even put pads on.
The Cincinnati Bengals are going to destroy next year. We have a favorable schedule (Although on paper it looks tough), the team has done nothing but get better, absolutely no team turmoil, and Mike Zimmer.
The Schedule does look really tough because of not only our division, but also because we're facing off against the Colts, Chargers, and Saints. However, the schedule still lines up well. We get to face off against the Patriots in week 1, and there is a report that Wes Welker might still be put on the PUP list. That would make it much easier to focus on Randy Moss and shut him down. Our Monday Night game against the Steelers is at home, so hopefully Paul Brown Stadium can give the team an advantage. We have to play against 2 high flying offenses in the Saints and Chargers, but they are both home games in December, so the cold weather would be able to slow them down. Then, if the Ravens are as good as they are supposed to be, there is a possible division deciding game for the last week of the season.
The team is returning 20 of 22 starters this year, and the only players not returning are Laveranues Coles, who was a major disappointment last year, and whichever TE was starting on a given week.. Then we only upgraded by adding Antonio Bryant. In the draft, the team drafted Jermaine Gresham who might not put up gaudy number, but he will add an extra dimension and threat to the offense.
Also, you see stories around the league about players holding out for more money and most of these players are on top or rising teams such as Darrelle Revis, Nick Mangold, Vincent Jackson, Robert Mathis, Reggie Wayne, Chris Johnson. The Bengals have NO players that have held out or were planning to and that is surprising considering there are players who definitely deserve and new contract. Although it is tough for these players. They now have to wait another year to buy an island for their sons.
Of course though, the majority of the teams' success comes down to one man, Mike Zimmer. If it wasn't for him, I don't think there is a chance the team would be where they are today. He brings fire and passion. He has led the defense to a top 5 ranking and even now, the offense gets to practice against them, improving them even if they don't know it.
So yeah, we're hot, and they're all diddly squat. See whatever poor NFC team in the superbowl.
The Cincinnati Bengals are going to destroy next year. We have a favorable schedule (Although on paper it looks tough), the team has done nothing but get better, absolutely no team turmoil, and Mike Zimmer.
The Schedule does look really tough because of not only our division, but also because we're facing off against the Colts, Chargers, and Saints. However, the schedule still lines up well. We get to face off against the Patriots in week 1, and there is a report that Wes Welker might still be put on the PUP list. That would make it much easier to focus on Randy Moss and shut him down. Our Monday Night game against the Steelers is at home, so hopefully Paul Brown Stadium can give the team an advantage. We have to play against 2 high flying offenses in the Saints and Chargers, but they are both home games in December, so the cold weather would be able to slow them down. Then, if the Ravens are as good as they are supposed to be, there is a possible division deciding game for the last week of the season.
The team is returning 20 of 22 starters this year, and the only players not returning are Laveranues Coles, who was a major disappointment last year, and whichever TE was starting on a given week.. Then we only upgraded by adding Antonio Bryant. In the draft, the team drafted Jermaine Gresham who might not put up gaudy number, but he will add an extra dimension and threat to the offense.
Also, you see stories around the league about players holding out for more money and most of these players are on top or rising teams such as Darrelle Revis, Nick Mangold, Vincent Jackson, Robert Mathis, Reggie Wayne, Chris Johnson. The Bengals have NO players that have held out or were planning to and that is surprising considering there are players who definitely deserve and new contract. Although it is tough for these players. They now have to wait another year to buy an island for their sons.
Of course though, the majority of the teams' success comes down to one man, Mike Zimmer. If it wasn't for him, I don't think there is a chance the team would be where they are today. He brings fire and passion. He has led the defense to a top 5 ranking and even now, the offense gets to practice against them, improving them even if they don't know it.
So yeah, we're hot, and they're all diddly squat. See whatever poor NFC team in the superbowl.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Real Expectations
There is no denying that there was a ton of talent taken in the 2010 NFL draft. The Bengals grabbed some talented players themselves, but let's discuss what we should actually expect from these players. If you go to the Bengals official boards, you will find plenty of nut jobs who set the highest expectations for rookies. Now, some of the hype has cooled down, but I still feel that we need to address what's been talked about on the boards. We'll go pick by pick for this writing.
Jermaine Gresham:
Honestly, this is the only rookie people should not be surprised to see start. I know that Marvin has said that he likes to bring rookies along slowly, but that seems to be changing lately. Look at how this played out:
Palmer - Sat out 1st year.
Perry - Missed year due to injury, but probably would've been 2nd fiddle to Rudi.
Pollack - Long holdout didn't help so he didn't become a starter until late in the season.
Joseph - Meant to play nickel role, but wound up with more playing and starts due to Tory James and Deltha O'Neal injuries/sucking.
Hall - Like Joseph, supposed to be a nickel but injuries and Deltha being a moron forced some early starts.
Rivers - The first rookie who was slated to start from day 1 and he did.
Smith - Penciled in as starter during OTAs but a holdout and injury prevented him starting.
So it would seem that Gresham should be our opening day starter barring holdout and injury. However, if we're truly a running team, then don't expect major stats from him. At this point, I won't make a prediction because we have no idea what will happen with him.
Carlos Dunlap:
Dunlap started off with major expectations from fans, but that's cooled for the most part, except when he's seen talking to Zimmer in videos. The bottom line is that he's only going to be a rotational player, barring injury. He'll be playing end and tackle for us, but it will most likely be on 3rd downs only. It would seem that a sack or two is reasonable to predict, but it's hard to know with him playing LE/DT for us.
Jordan Shipley:
Okay, Shipley is popular with a lot of people, me included, but people make it sound like he's going to get 100+ catches with 15 TDs. As of right now, he's not our top slot WR. Chad and Bryant are ahead of him, and despite what some people believe, Caldwell is ahead of him. We'll most likely use a rotations beind our top two WRs, so I think a couple of TDs in reasonable to expect from him, but anything more is pushing it.
Brandon Ghee:
After the signing of Pacman Jones, no one really talks about Ghee anymore and he's become an anonymous player in reports. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see him be a game day inactive.
Geno Atkins:
I am definitely a fan of Atkins, but I realize that he will probably not be on the field that much. Again, it seems like he'll just be a 3rd down pass rusher, but he'll probably rotate at tackle with some of our DEs during the game on 3rd downs. A possible sack or maybe 2 would be okay to predict, in my opinion.
Roddrick Muckelroy:
A lot of people have said that they think Muck will compete for a starting spot next year, but I just don't see it. While I would love to see him eventually start and become a good player, I think he is Brandon Johnson's eventual replacement as our utility LB. Become a solid special teams player and quality depth.
Otis Hudson:
He's penciled in as Bobbie Williams' backup, so he's already exceeded my expectations. Now, there's been a couple of people who think he'll get some playing time because of Bobbie's declining play. Unless we're up by a lot in a game, I don't see Otis getting playing time. He's labeled as a project, so we'll see, but be reasonable people.
Dezmon Briscoe:
Like the Jeromy Miles discussion, people have used the "he could've been a 3rd round pick" debates. Some have even said that he'll be better than Dez Bryant. While we would all like to see that, things aren't looking good for him to make the roster. So while some people are ready to put him down as a secret weapon this year, we should probably prepare to see him just battle for a roster spot.
Reggie Stephens:
No hype given.
Jermaine Gresham:
Honestly, this is the only rookie people should not be surprised to see start. I know that Marvin has said that he likes to bring rookies along slowly, but that seems to be changing lately. Look at how this played out:
Palmer - Sat out 1st year.
Perry - Missed year due to injury, but probably would've been 2nd fiddle to Rudi.
Pollack - Long holdout didn't help so he didn't become a starter until late in the season.
Joseph - Meant to play nickel role, but wound up with more playing and starts due to Tory James and Deltha O'Neal injuries/sucking.
Hall - Like Joseph, supposed to be a nickel but injuries and Deltha being a moron forced some early starts.
Rivers - The first rookie who was slated to start from day 1 and he did.
Smith - Penciled in as starter during OTAs but a holdout and injury prevented him starting.
So it would seem that Gresham should be our opening day starter barring holdout and injury. However, if we're truly a running team, then don't expect major stats from him. At this point, I won't make a prediction because we have no idea what will happen with him.
Carlos Dunlap:
Dunlap started off with major expectations from fans, but that's cooled for the most part, except when he's seen talking to Zimmer in videos. The bottom line is that he's only going to be a rotational player, barring injury. He'll be playing end and tackle for us, but it will most likely be on 3rd downs only. It would seem that a sack or two is reasonable to predict, but it's hard to know with him playing LE/DT for us.
Jordan Shipley:
Okay, Shipley is popular with a lot of people, me included, but people make it sound like he's going to get 100+ catches with 15 TDs. As of right now, he's not our top slot WR. Chad and Bryant are ahead of him, and despite what some people believe, Caldwell is ahead of him. We'll most likely use a rotations beind our top two WRs, so I think a couple of TDs in reasonable to expect from him, but anything more is pushing it.
Brandon Ghee:
After the signing of Pacman Jones, no one really talks about Ghee anymore and he's become an anonymous player in reports. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see him be a game day inactive.
Geno Atkins:
I am definitely a fan of Atkins, but I realize that he will probably not be on the field that much. Again, it seems like he'll just be a 3rd down pass rusher, but he'll probably rotate at tackle with some of our DEs during the game on 3rd downs. A possible sack or maybe 2 would be okay to predict, in my opinion.
Roddrick Muckelroy:
A lot of people have said that they think Muck will compete for a starting spot next year, but I just don't see it. While I would love to see him eventually start and become a good player, I think he is Brandon Johnson's eventual replacement as our utility LB. Become a solid special teams player and quality depth.
Otis Hudson:
He's penciled in as Bobbie Williams' backup, so he's already exceeded my expectations. Now, there's been a couple of people who think he'll get some playing time because of Bobbie's declining play. Unless we're up by a lot in a game, I don't see Otis getting playing time. He's labeled as a project, so we'll see, but be reasonable people.
Dezmon Briscoe:
Like the Jeromy Miles discussion, people have used the "he could've been a 3rd round pick" debates. Some have even said that he'll be better than Dez Bryant. While we would all like to see that, things aren't looking good for him to make the roster. So while some people are ready to put him down as a secret weapon this year, we should probably prepare to see him just battle for a roster spot.
Reggie Stephens:
No hype given.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Hype. For what?
So every offseason we see NFL players get a lot of hype from fans, coaches, and the media. Usually it's about top rookies, players returning from injury, and players on new teams. Then there's one kind of player that gets a lot of hype that leaves you scratching your head. The undrafted college free agent. Every year our beloved Bengals sign a guy who has more hype than any other signing. This year's player might be the most hyped that I've ever seen on this team since I became a fan in 98.
This year's player is Jeromy Miles, a safety from Massachusetts.
Plenty of Bengal fans were hoping for our team to draft a safety, but it didn't happen. It led to the usual message board MTV fights. Then it was reported that we signed Miles and one guy pimped him and then it swept over the boards like a brush fire. I've seen people say that he'll be our starting FS for the first game. I've even seen a comparison to Ed Reed. This is a reason to love Bengals fans. People will seriously believe than an unproven undrafted rookie is on the same level as a Hall of Famer. One of my favorite aspects is that people keep talking about how awesome he's going to be at free safety despite playing strong safety at UMass, at least that's what I found at NFLDraftScout.
Now I know it's the job of fans to hype players, but I've never seen hype go this far. I thought last year's undrafted star, Quan Cosby, was overhyped, but the only talk of him was competing for the punt return job, which he showed that he could do. The situation that this reminds me of, a little, is our 2008 "star signing" Simeon Castille. He was the most hyped guy we had and I saw the same thing that I'm seeing now. I'm actually seeing the whole "he was projected to be a 3rd round pick" argument, which was also used for Castille. According to DS, Miles was projected as a 6th-7th rounder. Obviously not every site is the same and DS isn't the #1 draft site. Now Castille was projected as a 4th-5th rounder, but that was a safety and we used him at corner. We also can't forget that Chinedum Ndukwe said that he was given the grade of 3rd round to Free Agent from a draft site. What a projection. That very well could be what Miles had.
Castille lasted all of one season and was gone to San Diego.
Bottom line, we're all hoping that Miles succeeds, but it seems people are starting to have higher expectations for an undrafted rookie over our 2nd rounder. We're all rooting for Miles and would love to see him become awesome, but could we at least wait until we see him in a game? Generally, the most hyped rookie isn't the one that looks the best for us. DeDe Dorsey and Tom Nelson come to mind.
This year's player is Jeromy Miles, a safety from Massachusetts.
Plenty of Bengal fans were hoping for our team to draft a safety, but it didn't happen. It led to the usual message board MTV fights. Then it was reported that we signed Miles and one guy pimped him and then it swept over the boards like a brush fire. I've seen people say that he'll be our starting FS for the first game. I've even seen a comparison to Ed Reed. This is a reason to love Bengals fans. People will seriously believe than an unproven undrafted rookie is on the same level as a Hall of Famer. One of my favorite aspects is that people keep talking about how awesome he's going to be at free safety despite playing strong safety at UMass, at least that's what I found at NFLDraftScout.
Now I know it's the job of fans to hype players, but I've never seen hype go this far. I thought last year's undrafted star, Quan Cosby, was overhyped, but the only talk of him was competing for the punt return job, which he showed that he could do. The situation that this reminds me of, a little, is our 2008 "star signing" Simeon Castille. He was the most hyped guy we had and I saw the same thing that I'm seeing now. I'm actually seeing the whole "he was projected to be a 3rd round pick" argument, which was also used for Castille. According to DS, Miles was projected as a 6th-7th rounder. Obviously not every site is the same and DS isn't the #1 draft site. Now Castille was projected as a 4th-5th rounder, but that was a safety and we used him at corner. We also can't forget that Chinedum Ndukwe said that he was given the grade of 3rd round to Free Agent from a draft site. What a projection. That very well could be what Miles had.
Castille lasted all of one season and was gone to San Diego.
Bottom line, we're all hoping that Miles succeeds, but it seems people are starting to have higher expectations for an undrafted rookie over our 2nd rounder. We're all rooting for Miles and would love to see him become awesome, but could we at least wait until we see him in a game? Generally, the most hyped rookie isn't the one that looks the best for us. DeDe Dorsey and Tom Nelson come to mind.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Opinion of the 2010 draft
I know the popular thing is to say that your team had the best draft of them all, unless you're a Jags fan. However, we need to stand back and analyze how our draft. Don't be an OSUfan and tell the FO that their crap doesn't stink. This is not what we'd call a "sexy" draft, but this is a draft that you can hang your hat on and smile about. Let's take a closer look, shall we?
1. Jermain Gresham:
Gresham was one of my favorite players in the draft. I liked the guy, but I obviously had my concerns over his health. His blocking is another matter. One site will tell you that his blocking is atrocious, one tells you that he's the best blocker, and the final one gives you a middle-of-the-road explanation. I will not lie, when I saw Dez Bryant's name at #21, I wanted him to be our pick. However, we did something that we haven't done since 2003, and that was make the smart pick. Tight end was our #1 need and we got the #1 player. Will Gresham finish his career as a Bengal? Most likely not. Will he spend the majority of his career as a Bengal? Yes.
Plus, you know it was nice sticking it to the Pats and Baltimore.
Grade: A
2. Carlos Dunlap:
After letting the Gresham pick set in for a day. I was excited when our pick approached in the 2nd round. I was amazed at the talent that was falling. I had printed out the nfldraftscout.com rankings and was crossing off names as they were picked. I didn't know who we would pick. When I crossed Jimmy Clausen's name off, I decided to flip though and see who was still there. Ben Tate, Jon Asamoah, Golden Tate, etc. One name did stick to me. Carlos Dunlap. I had seen some mocks give us Carlos because of his "issues" and how he fit the Bengal mold. I did keep his name in the back of my mind and sure enough, he's in stripes. I wasn't thrilled with the pick, but I have faith in Zimmer to get him going. He could be a solid run stopper for us, who can also get to the passer. Obviously the DUI arrest made him look foolish, but his knack of taking games/plays off is concerning. If he does live up to the hype, then quarterbacks beware.
Grade: B
3. Jordan Shipley:
I honestly didn't see this pick coming and I damn near missed the announcement, while setting up dinner. When I heard that the Browns traded up, I thought it was with us and we acquired more picks, but it wasn't to be. I looked back up and saw that the Browns had their selection in. I happened to look down and catch Shipley's name linked to us. I'd be lying if I said I didn't raise my eyebrow. I figured we'd go with a WR, but not a slot guy. Oh well, the guy looks like he's going to give us something special over the middle. I did have to let this pick digest some because I felt that we could've taken a better slot WR, but it's hard not to like him.
Grade: B
3c. Brandon Ghee:
I loved this pick, but it probably had to do with him actually being at the draft and going up on stage. He's a bit of a project, but he's a 3rd rounder, who is behind 2 great starters. He is under the Johnathan Joseph mold of being a raw CB, who has speed. Whether he actually plays CB or S is up to Zimmer, but I am excited for this guy. I know Joseph is a FA, but I'm sure we'd tag him if an extension isn't worked out. So he has two years to develop into a solid player for us. Welcome Brandon.
Grade: A
4. Geno Atkins:
Still not thrilled that in the new format, I still have to wake up at 7 am to watch the last day. I was also hoping for us to grab our safety. We get to our pick and Geno Atkins name pops up. I am tired of our DEs playing DT on 3rd downs. Atkins may be a little undersized, but he's a pass rusher and that is going to help us. Most DTs do very little in their first year, but we don't need Geno to do much, except rotate in with Tank. We needed help on the pass rush and we took a pass rushing DT, hard to dislike that pick.
Grade: A
4c. Roddrick Muckelroy:
Again, no safety. When I first saw him come up, I just shrugged my shoulders. I had heard of him, but didn't see much of him in Texas games. Started off as a WILL, played at MIKE, and appears to have some ability at playing SAM. Brandon Johnson (W), Dhani Jones (M), and Reshad Jeanty (S) are all FAs after this season. We have a guy who can backup all the spots and has a good shot at starting at one next year.
Grade: B
5. Otis Hudson:
Without a doubt, my least favorite pick of the draft. It's nothing against Otis, he has one of those feel good stories, but it just seems like no one actually believed that we took him. Otis and his agent couldn't believe he was selected. Alexander seemed amazed by the pick, and I'm pretty sure he pushed for the guy. People who read my posts on the boards know that I don't have high hopes for any of Marvin's 5th rounders, except Huber, but this might be the lowest. I figured that our 5th-7th rounders would probably get waived after camp, but it feels that Otis is a guarantee for the practice squad. I understand that he's a project, but I would've really liked to have been in that war room when this pick was discussed.
Grade: D
6. Dezmon Briscoe:
Another WR? That was my first thought. I had seen his name mentioned on the boards, but didn't think much of it. I am having the same trouble as many people when it comes to finding negatives about him. His 2007 Wal Mart arrest seems to be the only thing. I swore that his route running was questioned, but that may have been someone else. At this point, this guy very well could be a steal for us. He comes off as a guy who would fill that Chris Henry role. No problems getting a player like that in the 6th round.
Grade: A
7. Reggie Stephens:
My biggest issue with Stephens, what does this guy weigh?!?! I have seen him at 312 pounds all the way up to 344 pounds. I'm sorry, but that's not a give-and-take situations. He may be an athletic guard, he may be a bulldozer. Hard to tell. I watched a little of him in the bowl game that Iowa State went to. Didn't really give up any pressure. That's all I got for him.
Grade: B
My overall grade of this draft is a B, and like David said, it's because there's no safety. I know people say that a great pass rush can hide sub-par safety play. That's true, but guess what? There are plays out there where an OL can completely block a pass rush. Then your sub-par safety is exposed. The Otis Hudson pick is also questionable, but only time will tell.
1. Jermain Gresham:
Gresham was one of my favorite players in the draft. I liked the guy, but I obviously had my concerns over his health. His blocking is another matter. One site will tell you that his blocking is atrocious, one tells you that he's the best blocker, and the final one gives you a middle-of-the-road explanation. I will not lie, when I saw Dez Bryant's name at #21, I wanted him to be our pick. However, we did something that we haven't done since 2003, and that was make the smart pick. Tight end was our #1 need and we got the #1 player. Will Gresham finish his career as a Bengal? Most likely not. Will he spend the majority of his career as a Bengal? Yes.
Plus, you know it was nice sticking it to the Pats and Baltimore.
Grade: A
2. Carlos Dunlap:
After letting the Gresham pick set in for a day. I was excited when our pick approached in the 2nd round. I was amazed at the talent that was falling. I had printed out the nfldraftscout.com rankings and was crossing off names as they were picked. I didn't know who we would pick. When I crossed Jimmy Clausen's name off, I decided to flip though and see who was still there. Ben Tate, Jon Asamoah, Golden Tate, etc. One name did stick to me. Carlos Dunlap. I had seen some mocks give us Carlos because of his "issues" and how he fit the Bengal mold. I did keep his name in the back of my mind and sure enough, he's in stripes. I wasn't thrilled with the pick, but I have faith in Zimmer to get him going. He could be a solid run stopper for us, who can also get to the passer. Obviously the DUI arrest made him look foolish, but his knack of taking games/plays off is concerning. If he does live up to the hype, then quarterbacks beware.
Grade: B
3. Jordan Shipley:
I honestly didn't see this pick coming and I damn near missed the announcement, while setting up dinner. When I heard that the Browns traded up, I thought it was with us and we acquired more picks, but it wasn't to be. I looked back up and saw that the Browns had their selection in. I happened to look down and catch Shipley's name linked to us. I'd be lying if I said I didn't raise my eyebrow. I figured we'd go with a WR, but not a slot guy. Oh well, the guy looks like he's going to give us something special over the middle. I did have to let this pick digest some because I felt that we could've taken a better slot WR, but it's hard not to like him.
Grade: B
3c. Brandon Ghee:
I loved this pick, but it probably had to do with him actually being at the draft and going up on stage. He's a bit of a project, but he's a 3rd rounder, who is behind 2 great starters. He is under the Johnathan Joseph mold of being a raw CB, who has speed. Whether he actually plays CB or S is up to Zimmer, but I am excited for this guy. I know Joseph is a FA, but I'm sure we'd tag him if an extension isn't worked out. So he has two years to develop into a solid player for us. Welcome Brandon.
Grade: A
4. Geno Atkins:
Still not thrilled that in the new format, I still have to wake up at 7 am to watch the last day. I was also hoping for us to grab our safety. We get to our pick and Geno Atkins name pops up. I am tired of our DEs playing DT on 3rd downs. Atkins may be a little undersized, but he's a pass rusher and that is going to help us. Most DTs do very little in their first year, but we don't need Geno to do much, except rotate in with Tank. We needed help on the pass rush and we took a pass rushing DT, hard to dislike that pick.
Grade: A
4c. Roddrick Muckelroy:
Again, no safety. When I first saw him come up, I just shrugged my shoulders. I had heard of him, but didn't see much of him in Texas games. Started off as a WILL, played at MIKE, and appears to have some ability at playing SAM. Brandon Johnson (W), Dhani Jones (M), and Reshad Jeanty (S) are all FAs after this season. We have a guy who can backup all the spots and has a good shot at starting at one next year.
Grade: B
5. Otis Hudson:
Without a doubt, my least favorite pick of the draft. It's nothing against Otis, he has one of those feel good stories, but it just seems like no one actually believed that we took him. Otis and his agent couldn't believe he was selected. Alexander seemed amazed by the pick, and I'm pretty sure he pushed for the guy. People who read my posts on the boards know that I don't have high hopes for any of Marvin's 5th rounders, except Huber, but this might be the lowest. I figured that our 5th-7th rounders would probably get waived after camp, but it feels that Otis is a guarantee for the practice squad. I understand that he's a project, but I would've really liked to have been in that war room when this pick was discussed.
Grade: D
6. Dezmon Briscoe:
Another WR? That was my first thought. I had seen his name mentioned on the boards, but didn't think much of it. I am having the same trouble as many people when it comes to finding negatives about him. His 2007 Wal Mart arrest seems to be the only thing. I swore that his route running was questioned, but that may have been someone else. At this point, this guy very well could be a steal for us. He comes off as a guy who would fill that Chris Henry role. No problems getting a player like that in the 6th round.
Grade: A
7. Reggie Stephens:
My biggest issue with Stephens, what does this guy weigh?!?! I have seen him at 312 pounds all the way up to 344 pounds. I'm sorry, but that's not a give-and-take situations. He may be an athletic guard, he may be a bulldozer. Hard to tell. I watched a little of him in the bowl game that Iowa State went to. Didn't really give up any pressure. That's all I got for him.
Grade: B
My overall grade of this draft is a B, and like David said, it's because there's no safety. I know people say that a great pass rush can hide sub-par safety play. That's true, but guess what? There are plays out there where an OL can completely block a pass rush. Then your sub-par safety is exposed. The Otis Hudson pick is also questionable, but only time will tell.
A vague review of our first round mock, and grades
First off, our mock...kinda sucked. We only got 9 picks right and 2 of them were in completely different positions and on our Bengal mock, we got a total of zero picks right. But whatever. No one gets those right anyways.
So now it's time to grade the players before they even have a chance to hit the field
Jermaine Greshem - TE - Oklahoma
When I first saw this pick with Dez Bryant still on the board, I was livid. He was the best player there and could have been a dynamic #3 that not only could help now, but take over as the #1 when Chad decides to leave. However, I got this weird feeling of trusting the coaching staff to actually use Greshem (Although I'm sure that will bite me on the ass) so he can be a solid rookie contributor. It made me feel even better when a report came out that Bryant has an irregular heartbeat. I'm sure one out of the 3 people who read this will think I hate Bryant and that I'm sitting in my room, laughing at him for having a heart condition.
Pick grade - A
Carlos Dunlap - DE - Florida
As much as I hate character risks (Not talking about the DUI, but the effort concerns), I didn't mind this one. Dunlap was a great value pick and should help a questionable pass rush with Odom possibly not recovering 100%, Geathers sucking, and Fanene becoming ineffective towards the end of the year. Then we could be left with the ultimate boom or bust DE tandem in Dunlap and Michael Johnson. Zimmer should be able to light a fire under his ass, but a coaches success rate is never 100%. I hate how my mom is probably going to make some redneck Dunlap joke every single time he makes a play. Like, "He dun lap right around the tackle."
Pick grade - B-
Jordan Shipley - WR - Texas
I used to be very up and down about this pick, but I think I've come to liking it. Shipley can step in right away in the slot and catch anything that comes to him while being able to get good YAC and convert 3rd downs. He's a little Wes Welker-like and that's not just because he's white. My only issue is that Shipley's ceiling is just what I described. He'll never be a game changer and is already 25 or 26.
Pick grade - B
Brandon Ghee - CB - Wake Forest
I liked this pick just for the fact we ended his very lonely day in the green room. He's a very talented guy with tons of athletic ability, but never showed it all. He has hands of stone and needs to work on his technique but I feel like those can be worked on. He could possibly make a transition to safety although I feel like his best position would be nickel. The biggest problem is we could have picked a player who could make a better transition to safety and is an int machine. I'm of course talking about Akwasi Owusu-Ansah
Pick grade - B-
Geno Atkins - DT - Georgia
Atkins can be a player we need, but I don't trust him to fulfill that need. He disappears in games too often to trust him in anything but a light rotation. He could provide a pass rush on 3rd downs though. Imagine MJ - Odom - Atkins - Dunlap on 3rd and long. He was good value for a player who was supposed to go into the 3rd
Pick grade - B
Rod Muckleroy - LB - Texas
I can't say too much about him, but he can be a backup at Mike and can play STs. I don't think he can become a starter though but maybe a spot start guy who can perform while teh normal starter is out. But it's a 4th comp pick, so depth is key here in the later rounds
Pick grade - B
Otis Hudson - OG - Eastern Illinois
Who? Now I'm not going to grade a player badly becausde I've never heard of him, but seriously, why draft a player that even our coaches said "A what? kind of pick." The player himself said he was expecting to become an undrafted FA so I don't think there was a reason to draft him now. We could have gotten much better value with a player like Myron Rolle or Jonathan Dwhyer.
Pick grade - C- (Not an F because I can't grade him on actual gameplay or scout reports)
Dezmon Briscoe - WR - Kansas
Great value here. He produces on field, although everything else is unimpressive. The good thing about the pick is that we have time to develop him and we didn't waste an early pick to have to do so. It's too bad it will be nearly impossible to PS him, but he can still be good in 2 years.
Pick grade - A
Reggie Stephens - OG - Iowa State
I know nothing about him, but he's a 7th round pick. Eh
Pick grade - C
I'd give this draft a higher grade, but we completely ignored FS in the draft, which takes the draft down a bit.
Overall draft grade is a B-
So now it's time to grade the players before they even have a chance to hit the field
Jermaine Greshem - TE - Oklahoma
When I first saw this pick with Dez Bryant still on the board, I was livid. He was the best player there and could have been a dynamic #3 that not only could help now, but take over as the #1 when Chad decides to leave. However, I got this weird feeling of trusting the coaching staff to actually use Greshem (Although I'm sure that will bite me on the ass) so he can be a solid rookie contributor. It made me feel even better when a report came out that Bryant has an irregular heartbeat. I'm sure one out of the 3 people who read this will think I hate Bryant and that I'm sitting in my room, laughing at him for having a heart condition.
Pick grade - A
Carlos Dunlap - DE - Florida
As much as I hate character risks (Not talking about the DUI, but the effort concerns), I didn't mind this one. Dunlap was a great value pick and should help a questionable pass rush with Odom possibly not recovering 100%, Geathers sucking, and Fanene becoming ineffective towards the end of the year. Then we could be left with the ultimate boom or bust DE tandem in Dunlap and Michael Johnson. Zimmer should be able to light a fire under his ass, but a coaches success rate is never 100%. I hate how my mom is probably going to make some redneck Dunlap joke every single time he makes a play. Like, "He dun lap right around the tackle."
Pick grade - B-
Jordan Shipley - WR - Texas
I used to be very up and down about this pick, but I think I've come to liking it. Shipley can step in right away in the slot and catch anything that comes to him while being able to get good YAC and convert 3rd downs. He's a little Wes Welker-like and that's not just because he's white. My only issue is that Shipley's ceiling is just what I described. He'll never be a game changer and is already 25 or 26.
Pick grade - B
Brandon Ghee - CB - Wake Forest
I liked this pick just for the fact we ended his very lonely day in the green room. He's a very talented guy with tons of athletic ability, but never showed it all. He has hands of stone and needs to work on his technique but I feel like those can be worked on. He could possibly make a transition to safety although I feel like his best position would be nickel. The biggest problem is we could have picked a player who could make a better transition to safety and is an int machine. I'm of course talking about Akwasi Owusu-Ansah
Pick grade - B-
Geno Atkins - DT - Georgia
Atkins can be a player we need, but I don't trust him to fulfill that need. He disappears in games too often to trust him in anything but a light rotation. He could provide a pass rush on 3rd downs though. Imagine MJ - Odom - Atkins - Dunlap on 3rd and long. He was good value for a player who was supposed to go into the 3rd
Pick grade - B
Rod Muckleroy - LB - Texas
I can't say too much about him, but he can be a backup at Mike and can play STs. I don't think he can become a starter though but maybe a spot start guy who can perform while teh normal starter is out. But it's a 4th comp pick, so depth is key here in the later rounds
Pick grade - B
Otis Hudson - OG - Eastern Illinois
Who? Now I'm not going to grade a player badly becausde I've never heard of him, but seriously, why draft a player that even our coaches said "A what? kind of pick." The player himself said he was expecting to become an undrafted FA so I don't think there was a reason to draft him now. We could have gotten much better value with a player like Myron Rolle or Jonathan Dwhyer.
Pick grade - C- (Not an F because I can't grade him on actual gameplay or scout reports)
Dezmon Briscoe - WR - Kansas
Great value here. He produces on field, although everything else is unimpressive. The good thing about the pick is that we have time to develop him and we didn't waste an early pick to have to do so. It's too bad it will be nearly impossible to PS him, but he can still be good in 2 years.
Pick grade - A
Reggie Stephens - OG - Iowa State
I know nothing about him, but he's a 7th round pick. Eh
Pick grade - C
I'd give this draft a higher grade, but we completely ignored FS in the draft, which takes the draft down a bit.
Overall draft grade is a B-
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Our super duper schmuper mock draft
While it's a tad late, here it is. Since no one will read this most likely, this is more for seeing how accurate we are.
Rams – Sam Bradford – QB – Oklahoma
You can’t win without a franchise QB, so they draft him here in hopes he can get them out of this horrible losing culture they’ve taken on
Lions – Ndamukung Suh – DT – Nebraska
Just an absolute force and BPA for the needy Lions
Buccaneers – Gerald McCoy – DT - Oklahoma
They need a pass rush from the inside and McCoy fits the team perfectly. Brings another DT force to Tampa
Redskins – Trent Williams – OT – Oklahoma
He’s more athletic and fits in the zone blocking game better so the Redskins take him over the best OT.
Chiefs – Russell Okung – OT - Oklahoma State
The Chiefs get a gift with the best OT available. They need to protect their investment and pass on Berry to make sure of it.
Seahawks – Eric Berry – S – Tennessee
With so many needs, the Seahawks take the BPA. Berry will be a force for years to come
Browns – Joe Haden – CB – Florida
They did trade for Brown, but he’s getting older and Wright is very average. They get his shut down skills in a year or two.
Raiders – Mike Iupati – OG – Idaho
It’s Al Davis. He’ll do the expected and pick the unexpected.
Bills – Brian Bulaga – OT - Iowa
Face it, their line stinks. They need to rework it everywhere.
Jaguars – Derrick Morgan – DE – GT
With the trade of Groves, they especially need more pass rushers. Kampman is old and coming back from a serious injury while Harvey is ineffective.
Broncos – Rolondo McClain – LB – Alabama
They’re extremely weak here and spend a pick on McClain. Especially without the worry of Crohns disease, they take him as the best ILB. They consider Bryant, but don’t want to trade a diva for a diva.
Dolphins – Dan Williams – NT – Tennessee
They need help all along the front 5 guys. So they attempt to work inside out and get the best pure NT in the draft.
49ers – Jimmy Clausen – QB – ND
They get a franchise QB with moxy. The 49ers are rumored to have some heavy interest in Clausen if he falls, so they take him here.
Seahawks – Charles Brown – OT – USC
In a sort of shocking pick, they take Brown because of Carroll’s rots to USC. He can play LT in what is a glaring hole on the line.
Giants – CJ Spiller – RB – Clemson
They need a playmaker out of what was once a very strong RB corp. But Jacobs is slowing down and Bradshaw is getting injured.
Titans – Jason Pierre-Paul – DE – USF
They need a pass rush on the ends badly, so they take the athletic freak who has the potential to be a 10+ sack a year guy.
49ers – Anthony Davis – OT – Rutgers
Like the Falcons a few years ago, they draft their future QB and T together. Clausen dies a little bit less than he normally would next year.
Steelers – Maurkice Pouncey – C/G – Florida
This may seem a little high, but he can play guard or center in a pinch and will help their very weak OL.
Falcons – Sean Weatherspoon – LB – Missouri
They team Weatherspoon with Curtis Lofton to start up a great young LB corp. 2 strong leaders on the D.
Texans – Kyle Wilson – CB – Boise State
They desperately need a CB and pass on Thomas for the best corner behind Joe Haden.
Bengals – Earl Thomas – FS – Texas
It was tough to decide on Bryant or Thomas, but the team takes Thomas’ playmaking ability in the secondary to give us the best in the league.
Patriots – Dez Bryant – WR – Oklahoma State
He’s the BPA, period.
Packers – Sergio Kindle – OLB – Texas
They need another pass rusher opposite Matthews since they lost Kampman. The D starts to become ridiculously scary.
Eagles – Taylor Mays – SS/WLB – USC
They draft him and decide on which of these two positions he would play…and they let him free. They find every use of his athletic talent as possible
Ravens – Jermaine Greshem – TE – Oklahoma
They need a TE as Heap is getting older and more ineffective. The goal this offseason is to surround Flacco with weapons, and they have done more than that.
Cardinals – Brandon Graham – OLB – Michigan
The Cards need some more help in the front 7 and Graham has done nothing but produce at Michigan. They would prefer an ILB, but there are no highly rated ones available
Cowboys – Bruce Campbell – OT – Maryland
They have said they like Doug Free, but they draft Campbell to be sure Romo has protection for a SB run. One can kick inside to guard if need be.
Chargers – Ryan Matthews – RB – Fresno State
Chargers need a top RB. They know it, we know it, a 5 year old knows it. They pick the best RB available here
Jets – Jared Odrick – DE – Penn State
With the best 3-4 OLBs out, they get someone to help hold up and get some inside push. Jerry Hughes is also an option here, but they decide to go with interior help.
Vikings – Devin McCourty – CB – Rutgers
A physical presence at CB who can take over for Winfield when injuries finally completely derail his career. They need youth
Colts – Roger Saffold – OT- Indiana
The Colts do everything in their power to make sure Peyton is perfect, so they get him a LT for the next…however long he wants to play
Saints – Everson Griffen – DE – USC
The Saints need more pass rush to have any hopes of repeating as champs. So they take Griffen in hopes of his athleticism overcoming his sometimes lackadaisical effort
Rest of the Bengals mock:
Bengals 2nd Round – Carlton Mitchell - WR – USF
He’s a little bit of a reach here, but with other teams having heavy interest in him, the team drafts him a little bit high. He becomes a situational deep threat and soon takes over as the #3.
Bengals 3rd round – Akwasi Owusu-Ansah – CB – Indiana (PA)
We’re drafting him to play nickel corner. He’s a physical freak and could stand out here with Zimmer coaching him up. He could also take over as a starter if either Hall or Joseph get injured/don’t re-sign
Bengals 3rd round comp. – Anthony McCoy – TE - USC
He was reported to be one of this players that tested positive for drugs, so he’s a perfect pick for us on taking a character risk because he’s fallen a little bit. He has soft hands and can block well enough to be a good #2 TE
Bengals 4th round – Zane Beadles – OG – Utah
A solid player that can learn behind Bobbie. He’s also versatile enough to stay as a swing backup till he can take over.
Bengals 4th round comp. – Arthur Jones – DT- Syracuse
With the depth on the DL, he falls here and he instantly becomes our 4th DT that can move to UT when Tank leaves
Bengals 5th round – Leigh Tiffin – K – Alabama
The Bengals need a kicker and just like last year, we draft the kicker in the 5th round. Tiffin is the best kicker in the draft and can make us forget about Shayne’s un-clutchness
Bengals 6th round – Sean Canfield – QB – Oregon State
A QB to possibly become Carson’s long term back-up. He’s not the best QB ever, but he can develop and Zampse reportedly loved the workout.
Bengals 7th round – Aaron Morgan – DE/OLB - Louisiana-Monroe
Marvin Raved on this kid and we love to draft tweeners. He can develop on the PS and possibly earn playing time next year
UDFAs – Anderson Russel – OSU
Austin English – Oklahoma
An OSU guy for you fans…and a LB that can compete with Dan Skuta for a last LB spot/PS
Rams – Sam Bradford – QB – Oklahoma
You can’t win without a franchise QB, so they draft him here in hopes he can get them out of this horrible losing culture they’ve taken on
Lions – Ndamukung Suh – DT – Nebraska
Just an absolute force and BPA for the needy Lions
Buccaneers – Gerald McCoy – DT - Oklahoma
They need a pass rush from the inside and McCoy fits the team perfectly. Brings another DT force to Tampa
Redskins – Trent Williams – OT – Oklahoma
He’s more athletic and fits in the zone blocking game better so the Redskins take him over the best OT.
Chiefs – Russell Okung – OT - Oklahoma State
The Chiefs get a gift with the best OT available. They need to protect their investment and pass on Berry to make sure of it.
Seahawks – Eric Berry – S – Tennessee
With so many needs, the Seahawks take the BPA. Berry will be a force for years to come
Browns – Joe Haden – CB – Florida
They did trade for Brown, but he’s getting older and Wright is very average. They get his shut down skills in a year or two.
Raiders – Mike Iupati – OG – Idaho
It’s Al Davis. He’ll do the expected and pick the unexpected.
Bills – Brian Bulaga – OT - Iowa
Face it, their line stinks. They need to rework it everywhere.
Jaguars – Derrick Morgan – DE – GT
With the trade of Groves, they especially need more pass rushers. Kampman is old and coming back from a serious injury while Harvey is ineffective.
Broncos – Rolondo McClain – LB – Alabama
They’re extremely weak here and spend a pick on McClain. Especially without the worry of Crohns disease, they take him as the best ILB. They consider Bryant, but don’t want to trade a diva for a diva.
Dolphins – Dan Williams – NT – Tennessee
They need help all along the front 5 guys. So they attempt to work inside out and get the best pure NT in the draft.
49ers – Jimmy Clausen – QB – ND
They get a franchise QB with moxy. The 49ers are rumored to have some heavy interest in Clausen if he falls, so they take him here.
Seahawks – Charles Brown – OT – USC
In a sort of shocking pick, they take Brown because of Carroll’s rots to USC. He can play LT in what is a glaring hole on the line.
Giants – CJ Spiller – RB – Clemson
They need a playmaker out of what was once a very strong RB corp. But Jacobs is slowing down and Bradshaw is getting injured.
Titans – Jason Pierre-Paul – DE – USF
They need a pass rush on the ends badly, so they take the athletic freak who has the potential to be a 10+ sack a year guy.
49ers – Anthony Davis – OT – Rutgers
Like the Falcons a few years ago, they draft their future QB and T together. Clausen dies a little bit less than he normally would next year.
Steelers – Maurkice Pouncey – C/G – Florida
This may seem a little high, but he can play guard or center in a pinch and will help their very weak OL.
Falcons – Sean Weatherspoon – LB – Missouri
They team Weatherspoon with Curtis Lofton to start up a great young LB corp. 2 strong leaders on the D.
Texans – Kyle Wilson – CB – Boise State
They desperately need a CB and pass on Thomas for the best corner behind Joe Haden.
Bengals – Earl Thomas – FS – Texas
It was tough to decide on Bryant or Thomas, but the team takes Thomas’ playmaking ability in the secondary to give us the best in the league.
Patriots – Dez Bryant – WR – Oklahoma State
He’s the BPA, period.
Packers – Sergio Kindle – OLB – Texas
They need another pass rusher opposite Matthews since they lost Kampman. The D starts to become ridiculously scary.
Eagles – Taylor Mays – SS/WLB – USC
They draft him and decide on which of these two positions he would play…and they let him free. They find every use of his athletic talent as possible
Ravens – Jermaine Greshem – TE – Oklahoma
They need a TE as Heap is getting older and more ineffective. The goal this offseason is to surround Flacco with weapons, and they have done more than that.
Cardinals – Brandon Graham – OLB – Michigan
The Cards need some more help in the front 7 and Graham has done nothing but produce at Michigan. They would prefer an ILB, but there are no highly rated ones available
Cowboys – Bruce Campbell – OT – Maryland
They have said they like Doug Free, but they draft Campbell to be sure Romo has protection for a SB run. One can kick inside to guard if need be.
Chargers – Ryan Matthews – RB – Fresno State
Chargers need a top RB. They know it, we know it, a 5 year old knows it. They pick the best RB available here
Jets – Jared Odrick – DE – Penn State
With the best 3-4 OLBs out, they get someone to help hold up and get some inside push. Jerry Hughes is also an option here, but they decide to go with interior help.
Vikings – Devin McCourty – CB – Rutgers
A physical presence at CB who can take over for Winfield when injuries finally completely derail his career. They need youth
Colts – Roger Saffold – OT- Indiana
The Colts do everything in their power to make sure Peyton is perfect, so they get him a LT for the next…however long he wants to play
Saints – Everson Griffen – DE – USC
The Saints need more pass rush to have any hopes of repeating as champs. So they take Griffen in hopes of his athleticism overcoming his sometimes lackadaisical effort
Rest of the Bengals mock:
Bengals 2nd Round – Carlton Mitchell - WR – USF
He’s a little bit of a reach here, but with other teams having heavy interest in him, the team drafts him a little bit high. He becomes a situational deep threat and soon takes over as the #3.
Bengals 3rd round – Akwasi Owusu-Ansah – CB – Indiana (PA)
We’re drafting him to play nickel corner. He’s a physical freak and could stand out here with Zimmer coaching him up. He could also take over as a starter if either Hall or Joseph get injured/don’t re-sign
Bengals 3rd round comp. – Anthony McCoy – TE - USC
He was reported to be one of this players that tested positive for drugs, so he’s a perfect pick for us on taking a character risk because he’s fallen a little bit. He has soft hands and can block well enough to be a good #2 TE
Bengals 4th round – Zane Beadles – OG – Utah
A solid player that can learn behind Bobbie. He’s also versatile enough to stay as a swing backup till he can take over.
Bengals 4th round comp. – Arthur Jones – DT- Syracuse
With the depth on the DL, he falls here and he instantly becomes our 4th DT that can move to UT when Tank leaves
Bengals 5th round – Leigh Tiffin – K – Alabama
The Bengals need a kicker and just like last year, we draft the kicker in the 5th round. Tiffin is the best kicker in the draft and can make us forget about Shayne’s un-clutchness
Bengals 6th round – Sean Canfield – QB – Oregon State
A QB to possibly become Carson’s long term back-up. He’s not the best QB ever, but he can develop and Zampse reportedly loved the workout.
Bengals 7th round – Aaron Morgan – DE/OLB - Louisiana-Monroe
Marvin Raved on this kid and we love to draft tweeners. He can develop on the PS and possibly earn playing time next year
UDFAs – Anderson Russel – OSU
Austin English – Oklahoma
An OSU guy for you fans…and a LB that can compete with Dan Skuta for a last LB spot/PS
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Benefit of not being in the area
The Northwest is a place where you will find a lot of fans of various NFL teams. It can be tough because there's very few Bengal fans to ever find or talk to. Obviously there is the benefit of being able to talk to other fans and learning more in depth news about various teams. I will say that the AFC North is probably the most represented in the area.
Now, I chose to capitalize on the benefit of people not really knowing about the Bengals recently. I was working out at the gym and decided it was time to blast my pecs. The pec blaster 3000 was next to the classroom where a bunch of soccer-moms try to expand their inner child, or whatever yoga is supposed to teach you. I have a pair of Bengal shorts that I wear to the gym and the shirt I happened to wear was my Bengals Training Camp shirt. One of the women saw this and decided to come over and talk to me.
"Excuse me, I noticed that the name on your shirt is the name of a pro football team. I know that training camp is where the players meet. So are you a player for the...*looks at shirt*...Bengals?"
Now if this one of the other 9 times out of 10, I would've simply said no and moved on. Instead, I chose to act on this go with it.
"Yes, I am. My name is Kevin Huber. I'm a quarterback and I'm battling for the backup position this year."
"Oh my, that sounds exciting, who are you battling?"
All I could think to myself was that this was amazing. More satisfying than I ever thought it would be.
"He's a nice guy named Dave Shula. He's a little slow, but he's not too bad if you don't ask him to do anything."
She wished me luck and went back to waiting for her class. I finished up with the machine and left. She talked with her friends and I didn't want to risk one of them calling my bluff and then having to apologize for all the lying.
Truly a benefit of being in a non-Bengal part of the country.
Now, I chose to capitalize on the benefit of people not really knowing about the Bengals recently. I was working out at the gym and decided it was time to blast my pecs. The pec blaster 3000 was next to the classroom where a bunch of soccer-moms try to expand their inner child, or whatever yoga is supposed to teach you. I have a pair of Bengal shorts that I wear to the gym and the shirt I happened to wear was my Bengals Training Camp shirt. One of the women saw this and decided to come over and talk to me.
"Excuse me, I noticed that the name on your shirt is the name of a pro football team. I know that training camp is where the players meet. So are you a player for the...*looks at shirt*...Bengals?"
Now if this one of the other 9 times out of 10, I would've simply said no and moved on. Instead, I chose to act on this go with it.
"Yes, I am. My name is Kevin Huber. I'm a quarterback and I'm battling for the backup position this year."
"Oh my, that sounds exciting, who are you battling?"
All I could think to myself was that this was amazing. More satisfying than I ever thought it would be.
"He's a nice guy named Dave Shula. He's a little slow, but he's not too bad if you don't ask him to do anything."
She wished me luck and went back to waiting for her class. I finished up with the machine and left. She talked with her friends and I didn't want to risk one of them calling my bluff and then having to apologize for all the lying.
Truly a benefit of being in a non-Bengal part of the country.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
My funsies at KUNA 2010
I'm sure the first thought when you read the title was, "What the fudgecreamcicles is a KUNA?"
Well, I don't feel like explaining it so you'll have to live with the unknown, or google it. (Coincidentally, blogspot is owned by google, or something to that nature. Now give me my money.) Now to explain to you guys that don't want to do either of the options above, KUNA is a YMCA conference where you 'play' like your in the UN. Schools get a few countries to do research on and dress up with their native attire and create proposals to help better the world. While it's not like we're actually passing them through, it's great for actually learning about other countries. Like, did you know Paraguay is home to the largest BBQ in the world?
So much for world hunger
Also...umm..okay, so I actually didn't learn that much about other cultures, but I'm sure a lot of other people did. But that's not the point. The main reason for these is to socialize and gain new relationships...although I barely did that either. But here's my 3 top...whatevers from the trip:
Disclaimer - We are not liable for your boredom of these stories
Disclaimer II - The text is messed up for some reason, so deal with it
1. Touch Her Boob!
At KUNA, there are usually some...interesting people. Well this is pretty much this in a nutshell. One of my friends and I were going up the elevator to our floor to get a camera and something else she needed. On our way up, a few guys from a private school got on for hell-if-I-know reasons. When we got to our floor, we got off and started to walk to her room (You could have assumed this, but this makes it seem longer and more descriptive). As the elevator door was closing, we heard what was either the voice of God, or much more likely, the voice of the guys on the elevator. They yelled, as you can guess from the title, "Touch her boob!"
After we figured out what exactly they said, we gave each other the 'WTF' look that everyone gets. It wasn't exactly that they yelled it, because I expect stupid people to be stupid. But it was more of a timing thing, if that makes sense. Of course, like any man, I thought it would have been okay if I listened to them. But of course she didn't approve of that and like any gentle-man, I listened to her. The fear of losing my hand also contributed a little bit too....
Well, I don't feel like explaining it so you'll have to live with the unknown, or google it. (Coincidentally, blogspot is owned by google, or something to that nature. Now give me my money.) Now to explain to you guys that don't want to do either of the options above, KUNA is a YMCA conference where you 'play' like your in the UN. Schools get a few countries to do research on and dress up with their native attire and create proposals to help better the world. While it's not like we're actually passing them through, it's great for actually learning about other countries. Like, did you know Paraguay is home to the largest BBQ in the world?
So much for world hunger
Also...umm..okay, so I actually didn't learn that much about other cultures, but I'm sure a lot of other people did. But that's not the point. The main reason for these is to socialize and gain new relationships...although I barely did that either. But here's my 3 top...whatevers from the trip:
Disclaimer - We are not liable for your boredom of these stories
Disclaimer II - The text is messed up for some reason, so deal with it
1. Touch Her Boob!
At KUNA, there are usually some...interesting people. Well this is pretty much this in a nutshell. One of my friends and I were going up the elevator to our floor to get a camera and something else she needed. On our way up, a few guys from a private school got on for hell-if-I-know reasons. When we got to our floor, we got off and started to walk to her room (You could have assumed this, but this makes it seem longer and more descriptive). As the elevator door was closing, we heard what was either the voice of God, or much more likely, the voice of the guys on the elevator. They yelled, as you can guess from the title, "Touch her boob!"
After we figured out what exactly they said, we gave each other the 'WTF' look that everyone gets. It wasn't exactly that they yelled it, because I expect stupid people to be stupid. But it was more of a timing thing, if that makes sense. Of course, like any man, I thought it would have been okay if I listened to them. But of course she didn't approve of that and like any gentle-man, I listened to her. The fear of losing my hand also contributed a little bit too....
When we got downstairs, those same guys walked right by us (I'm pretty sure they had some kind of tracking system on me) and started screaming in my face. I'm not sure if it was a private school ritualistic thing, but I think they thought I actually did it because I was smiling when I saw them.
He's smiling.... HE DID IT!!!!!!
He's smiling.... HE DID IT!!!!!!
2. The Roof...The Roof is on Fire
At these conferences, there's always a dance the night before we leave. While this dance, and the mixer before it were boring as hell (Seriously, I watched a kid do math homework instead of dancing), there was this ounce of fun...
About ten minutes into the dance, we hear a bunch of hotel and YMCA employees telling us to leave the building for no reason.... until we see flashing lights all around. A lot of people thought it was a strobe light (Just in case the other flashing lights wouldn't have caused enough seizures). So, the hotel has to get 1,400 kids out of two or three rooms at a fast and efficient rate, like that would happen.
Next, a giant monster breaks the hotel in half
Apparently something really good happened though. When we were walking in, everyone from our school started singing 'Ain't no Mountain High Enough' which was, according to a senior in the school, one of her proudest moments in KUNA. I didn't get that same feel, but at least someone got something out of it.
3. Being Tired
It's normal for a lot of the people to be tired during this because we wake up early and go through long days, but I think I reached a level of tired I've never felt before. The night before our 2nd day, I got about four hours of sleep while also dealing with a horrible headache and no medicine other than a wet rag on my head.
Then I had to wake up and sit through an hour and a half of debating, then 2 hours of an assembly, then another hour and a half of debating, then an hour and a half of another assembly. For most of the proposals, I could have Roethlisberger'd it in approval or disapproval, but I was so tired that I couldn't get my head up, let alone debate. While I spoke a few times, it wasn't really enough to get noticed for anything. I fell asleep once or twice during, and the person sitting next to me fell asleep about four times. One of my friends to the right of me made a conversation with herself in Spanish to keep herself awake.
That's pretty much what happened, along with a few other funsies, but I can barely remember them anyways.
Remember, our mock draft will come eventually, although it might be a while, partially due to KUNA, and partially because we're being lazy. But it'll happen.
At these conferences, there's always a dance the night before we leave. While this dance, and the mixer before it were boring as hell (Seriously, I watched a kid do math homework instead of dancing), there was this ounce of fun...
About ten minutes into the dance, we hear a bunch of hotel and YMCA employees telling us to leave the building for no reason.... until we see flashing lights all around. A lot of people thought it was a strobe light (Just in case the other flashing lights wouldn't have caused enough seizures). So, the hotel has to get 1,400 kids out of two or three rooms at a fast and efficient rate, like that would happen.
Next, a giant monster breaks the hotel in halfAlso, just like in Cloverfield, there appeared to actually be no reason for the alarm to go off. There wasn't smoke anywhere. It just went off, unless a person pulled it for no reason. Outside was chili, and even better, it was raining. It wasn't pouring down, but there was a drizzle which made the entier thing even more fun. While waiting outside, it looked like a giant pack of sheep moving around. All the kids moved around in a huddle, trying to keep each other warm. With the sheep mentality going along with it all, nearly all the kids tried to walk inside at one point for seemingly no reason. The alarm was still going and it was made obvious with a flashing white light still going off on the side of the building and the firefighters had just made it to the hotel. So, while a couple of friends and our teacher watched, they all had to be pushed back by hotel staff. I imagine they had to create a 300-like phalanx at the doors to keep them out.
GIVE THEM NOTHING!
GIVE THEM NOTHING!Apparently something really good happened though. When we were walking in, everyone from our school started singing 'Ain't no Mountain High Enough' which was, according to a senior in the school, one of her proudest moments in KUNA. I didn't get that same feel, but at least someone got something out of it.
3. Being Tired
It's normal for a lot of the people to be tired during this because we wake up early and go through long days, but I think I reached a level of tired I've never felt before. The night before our 2nd day, I got about four hours of sleep while also dealing with a horrible headache and no medicine other than a wet rag on my head.
Then I had to wake up and sit through an hour and a half of debating, then 2 hours of an assembly, then another hour and a half of debating, then an hour and a half of another assembly. For most of the proposals, I could have Roethlisberger'd it in approval or disapproval, but I was so tired that I couldn't get my head up, let alone debate. While I spoke a few times, it wasn't really enough to get noticed for anything. I fell asleep once or twice during, and the person sitting next to me fell asleep about four times. One of my friends to the right of me made a conversation with herself in Spanish to keep herself awake.
That's pretty much what happened, along with a few other funsies, but I can barely remember them anyways.
Remember, our mock draft will come eventually, although it might be a while, partially due to KUNA, and partially because we're being lazy. But it'll happen.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
My Horrible Experience at Beef O' Bradys
As the Lounge creates it's first mock draft (It's gonna be good. Don't get too excited because I see you getting a little uncomfortable over there...), I figure I should post some filler stuff until it's done. So here's my horrible trip to Beef O' Bradys.
Now I hate Beef O' Bradys with all of my heart in the first place. I always feel uncomfortable and the food is always cold despite waiting for 3 hours to get my food. This trip was no different either. From the beginning, I knew it was going to suck too. My mom randomly picked me and my dad up and said, "I want to eat and sleep." Sort of like what a dog does all day, except she wanted to do it all within an hour. When we got there, we had to stand around for ten minutes because there were a bunch of drunk idiots there despite UK beating Eastern Tennessee by 28 at the half, if I remember correctly.
We sat around for five minutes until our waitress finally noticed we existed and she finally got our drinks. She was nice and effective but she did have one fatal flaw... She was one of the people that refills drinks every 5 seconds. Even though I asked her multiple times to not give me a refill, she brought one out anyways. I drank a little bit just so she didn't feel like it was entire useless to give me one, but after I got it to about 3/4th full, she refilled it again. While you guys are probably saying, "Stop being an ass, David. She's only doing her job," I told her every time she even hinted to a refill to not give me one. It seems menial, but I hate that kind of thing.
Also, as I was saying before, there was a half of a restaurant full of drunk UK fans that cheered as loud as they could for EVERY. SINGLE. SCORE.
UK was up by more than 20 for every second after I got there, yet they wouldn't stop annoying the...diddly poo out of me. Even worse was that there was a great upset going on with Ohio and Georgetown on one television, but it was on the other side of the place. CBS had to be horrible as well and not change the game despite Marquette and Washington playing in a great game. So while it's not Beef O' Bradys' fault, it was still annoying.
The food was still cold, although I already expected that. it was a new version of cold though. It seriously felt like they didn't even cook the food and just left it out to thaw for the day. My seat was uncomfortable as well. Good news for all though --- Afterwards, I got to have a medium sized chocolate shake from Dairy Queen.
Now take this useless article and love all over it.
Now I hate Beef O' Bradys with all of my heart in the first place. I always feel uncomfortable and the food is always cold despite waiting for 3 hours to get my food. This trip was no different either. From the beginning, I knew it was going to suck too. My mom randomly picked me and my dad up and said, "I want to eat and sleep." Sort of like what a dog does all day, except she wanted to do it all within an hour. When we got there, we had to stand around for ten minutes because there were a bunch of drunk idiots there despite UK beating Eastern Tennessee by 28 at the half, if I remember correctly.
We sat around for five minutes until our waitress finally noticed we existed and she finally got our drinks. She was nice and effective but she did have one fatal flaw... She was one of the people that refills drinks every 5 seconds. Even though I asked her multiple times to not give me a refill, she brought one out anyways. I drank a little bit just so she didn't feel like it was entire useless to give me one, but after I got it to about 3/4th full, she refilled it again. While you guys are probably saying, "Stop being an ass, David. She's only doing her job," I told her every time she even hinted to a refill to not give me one. It seems menial, but I hate that kind of thing.
Also, as I was saying before, there was a half of a restaurant full of drunk UK fans that cheered as loud as they could for EVERY. SINGLE. SCORE.
WE'RE BEATING A 16 SEED!!!!!!
UK was up by more than 20 for every second after I got there, yet they wouldn't stop annoying the...diddly poo out of me. Even worse was that there was a great upset going on with Ohio and Georgetown on one television, but it was on the other side of the place. CBS had to be horrible as well and not change the game despite Marquette and Washington playing in a great game. So while it's not Beef O' Bradys' fault, it was still annoying.
The food was still cold, although I already expected that. it was a new version of cold though. It seriously felt like they didn't even cook the food and just left it out to thaw for the day. My seat was uncomfortable as well. Good news for all though --- Afterwards, I got to have a medium sized chocolate shake from Dairy Queen.
Now take this useless article and love all over it.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
So what now Bengals?
Following a 2008 season in which our beloved team went 4-11-1, they surprised the fan base with an offseason that was extremely unusual. We had some big contributors during our down year, like Cedric Benson and Chris Crocker. We were actually able to re-sign them and hope to build upon them. Then we brought in a big free agent and actually signed him, which wound up being Laveraneus Coles. We added some quality players in Roy Williams and Tank Johnson. These guys turned out to be solid additions to our team and become solid vet presences that we needed.
We arrived at the 2009 NFL draft. An event in which leaves Bengals fans scratching their heads with multiple questionable moves. This time around was completely different. The Bengals needed an offensive tackle and they took one. Sure he came with question marks, but the Bengals took the gamble on him. Then we took an amazing linebacker, a 1st round DE who fell to the 3rd, one of the best TE in the draft, a solid center, the #1 punter, a solid cornerback, and the D2 Harlon Hill (Heisman in D2) winner. Bengals fans were amazed because we could actually give our draft an "A" on paper. It obviously led to fans having high expectations for the team.
Well that 2009 team wound up going 10-6 and win the AFC North, which included a complete sweep of the AFC North division.
We obviously had our issues with the team because our offense struggled to put teams away and let some bad teams hang around. It showed that we still had a lot of work to become a complete team.
Now we've entered the 2010 offseason. Once again, we re-signed some key free agents, like Tank Johnson and Roy Williams. Our big 2009 pick up, Coles, was a disappointment, but the team decided to release him instead of the usual method of keeping people around when they can't help. Well we replaced him with another big free agent, Antonio Bryant, who is supposed to help our dismal passing game. Once again, we're actually trying to fix our problems.
Even though the team continues to employ Bob Bratkowski, the team did one of the most impressive acts. They beat the Washington Redskins front office. A battle which allowed us to retain Mike Zimmer. The man who has turned our defense into our strength.
So we retained an important coach, re-signed some key pieces to our defense, and brought in a receiver to help fix the passing game. An almost repeat of the 2009 offseason. So what now Bengals?
Are you going to give us another solid draft or are we going to return the project/"potential" picks of the usual times or are we going to continue our move forward? We have a big season ahead of us. It's time to step up out of mediocrity and return to the glory days of the Bengals.
We arrived at the 2009 NFL draft. An event in which leaves Bengals fans scratching their heads with multiple questionable moves. This time around was completely different. The Bengals needed an offensive tackle and they took one. Sure he came with question marks, but the Bengals took the gamble on him. Then we took an amazing linebacker, a 1st round DE who fell to the 3rd, one of the best TE in the draft, a solid center, the #1 punter, a solid cornerback, and the D2 Harlon Hill (Heisman in D2) winner. Bengals fans were amazed because we could actually give our draft an "A" on paper. It obviously led to fans having high expectations for the team.
Well that 2009 team wound up going 10-6 and win the AFC North, which included a complete sweep of the AFC North division.
We obviously had our issues with the team because our offense struggled to put teams away and let some bad teams hang around. It showed that we still had a lot of work to become a complete team.
Now we've entered the 2010 offseason. Once again, we re-signed some key free agents, like Tank Johnson and Roy Williams. Our big 2009 pick up, Coles, was a disappointment, but the team decided to release him instead of the usual method of keeping people around when they can't help. Well we replaced him with another big free agent, Antonio Bryant, who is supposed to help our dismal passing game. Once again, we're actually trying to fix our problems.
Even though the team continues to employ Bob Bratkowski, the team did one of the most impressive acts. They beat the Washington Redskins front office. A battle which allowed us to retain Mike Zimmer. The man who has turned our defense into our strength.
So we retained an important coach, re-signed some key pieces to our defense, and brought in a receiver to help fix the passing game. An almost repeat of the 2009 offseason. So what now Bengals?
Are you going to give us another solid draft or are we going to return the project/"potential" picks of the usual times or are we going to continue our move forward? We have a big season ahead of us. It's time to step up out of mediocrity and return to the glory days of the Bengals.
Monday, March 15, 2010
The dangers of home schooling
Being a 15 year old on the interwebs all day is pretty confusing, huh? Well, it's because I'm homeschooled. While I don't mind the idea of home schooling because a person can get a better education than public schooling, it does have a few flaws which have bleh'd me.
Secondly, I've had pretty much no social life for the past 2 years. I have a few friends that I hang out every weekend, but during the weeks I'm reduced to sitting around browsing the internet and occasionally texting someone who I pick randomly out of my phone. Think of it like the big wheel on The Price is Right.
Cmon! It'll be Kaitlin today!
But the worst thing about it, for me at least, is that my mom has absolutely no idea what she's doing. The system I do is called ABEKA, which is a homeschooling system that teaches through videos of an actual class in a private school in Florida. It's a good system with one fatal flaw, if a student needs help, they have to ask their parents for it. While I would hope most parents know most of the criteria their children are learning, my mom barely ever does. When doing algebra 2, here is a normal conversation:
Me - "I need some help on this problem"
Mom - "Watch the video"
Me - "I did, but I still don't get it"
Mom - "Okay then..." *Looks at problem, book, and answer* "I don't get it. Here, look at the answer and work on it from there"
I have no idea how that is supposed to help me...at all, but I'm supposed to deal with it. Also, and I don't know how this one was thought through, my parents work ALL THE TIME. When we have to send our things in, it's almost always late and almost always a mess. Although I have good grades, it's because I'm a smart cookie, not because of my amazing teacher's skills.
Dayum, I better get back to public schooling soon. I know I said public schooling is idiotic, but it'll at least get me out of this crap.
First off, I'm comparing it to public schools. That's like comparing any normal person to that 'not quite right' kid named Ephrem.
Hey ya'll
A public schools' job is too pretty much prepare a person for a 9-5 job and not complain about it.Hey ya'llSecondly, I've had pretty much no social life for the past 2 years. I have a few friends that I hang out every weekend, but during the weeks I'm reduced to sitting around browsing the internet and occasionally texting someone who I pick randomly out of my phone. Think of it like the big wheel on The Price is Right.
Cmon! It'll be Kaitlin today!
Me - "I need some help on this problem"
Mom - "Watch the video"
Me - "I did, but I still don't get it"
Mom - "Okay then..." *Looks at problem, book, and answer* "I don't get it. Here, look at the answer and work on it from there"
I have no idea how that is supposed to help me...at all, but I'm supposed to deal with it. Also, and I don't know how this one was thought through, my parents work ALL THE TIME. When we have to send our things in, it's almost always late and almost always a mess. Although I have good grades, it's because I'm a smart cookie, not because of my amazing teacher's skills.
Dayum, I better get back to public schooling soon. I know I said public schooling is idiotic, but it'll at least get me out of this crap.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Welcome you crazy fools
Alrighty then, so I made a blog.
This is pretty much gonna be for whoever wants to see a bunch of random postings about whatever is going on in the authors' minds or Cincinnati Bengal related news (That means you!). So be prepared for my horrible writing skills and, hopefully, a lot of updates. There should be about 4-5 authors, including myself and this shizzzz actually gets started.....now.
This is pretty much gonna be for whoever wants to see a bunch of random postings about whatever is going on in the authors' minds or Cincinnati Bengal related news (That means you!). So be prepared for my horrible writing skills and, hopefully, a lot of updates. There should be about 4-5 authors, including myself and this shizzzz actually gets started.....now.
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