Originally Posted by Kray007 (Post 348262)

The Bengals have the best supporting cast since he’s been with the team, better than the one that won a Super Bowl.

So, I thought that I’d compare them with the Colts, position by position.

QB…Indiana Jones vs Joe Burrow. My gut says to go with Burrow and so does my brain. PFF gives Burrow a grade of 91.8. Jones got a 71.7. That’s quite a discrepancy, considering that both guys finished with comparable stats and NFL.com’s end of season QB rankings put Jones at 8 and Burrow at 10. Still, Burrow gets the nod. Advantage Bengals

RB…Taylor versus Chase Brown. By any rational standard, Taylor stands head and shoulders ahead of Cincinnati’s guy. Advantage Colts.

WR…Chase, Higgins, and Iosivas vs Pierce, Downs and whoever else the Colts trot out there. Here, it’s not even close. You can mention Pierce in the same breath as Higgins, and Downs is probably a better slot receiver than Iosivas. But, no one thinks that Dulin could carry Chase’s jockstrap. Advantage Bengals.

TE…Warren vs Drew Sample. Drew who? Advantage Colts.

OL…Raimann, Nelson, Bortoloni, Goncalves, and Travis vs Brown, Fairchild, Karras, Turner, and Mims. None of the Bengal Linemen crack a 70 on PFF’s ratings. 3 Colts come in higher than 80. Travis gets a 73 and change, Goncalves 69. I know that a lot of people have issues with PFF, but in this case, at least, their grades pass the sniff test. Advantage Colts

DE…Latu and Key vs Murphy and Mafe. The uncertainty about who lines up opposite Latu complicates making a comparison. But, Latu is better than either one of those guys and, even if Key wins the job, it’s not a disaster. PFF grades him at 63. Murphy gets a 64. Lest anyone discount that, the numbers for Cincinnati were brutal. Murphy racked up 5 1/2 sacks. Maye picked up 2. Advantage Colts.

DT…Buckner and Stewart vs Lawrence and Allen. Taking off the rose colored glasses for a moment, I’ll allow that Sexy Dexy is probably better than D Buck. By any measure, however, Stewart is better than Allen. On the whole, though, Lawrence’s other worldly ability tips the scales. Advantage Bengals.

LB…Allen and ? Vs Knight, Carter, and Burks. The Colts uncertainty at the position is trumped by the fact that the Bengals might have the worst Linebacker corps in the league. Advantage Colts.

S…Bynum and Haulcy/Wohler vs Cook and Battle. Cook is an excellent Safety, undoubtedly better than Bynum, although you have to wonder if the return of Ward and Gardner elevates his performance. On the other side, whoever the Colts line up will probably be better than Battle. But, probably doesn’t buy you many Quarter Pounders at McDonald’s. Advantage Bengals

CB…Ward and Gardner vs Turner and Hill. Seldom in the annals of the National Football League has any team put together a Cornerback duo as feared as Dax Hill and DJ Turner. It isn’t often that you get one guy capable of shutting down his side of the field, much less two. Seriously, though, all kidding aside, it’s hard to overstate Gardner and Ward’s potential for changing the dynamic of the game. Advantage Colts.

Colts 6 Bengals 4, although you can argue that the Bengals superiotity at two of the most important positions in the game tips the scales towards them.

Originally Posted by ukcolt (Post 348281)

To start with....Burrow has never won the Superbowl!

I think your assessment of the linebackers is also wrong. Were Cincy's linebackers bad last year? Yeah, of course, but they were both rookies, who should improve, remember Allen is the equivalent of Knight last year.

Going off topic, I am concerned with the amount of faith generally that is being placed on guys from this years draft and from those in last years draft class as well.

Yes, Warren was great and hopefully continues to ascend, but JTT was really poor for most of the year, Walley didn't play at all, Travis looked good from a small sample size, but who really knows how good he will be this year? Giddens barely played, Leonard saw some action, and looked promising, but is certainly unproven, Smith was on the practice squad all year, and Wohler was on IR.

So we are anointing CJ Allen as the starter, but he was selected in a similar position to JTT last year, are we expecting too much from someone this far into the draft? Haulcy, it appears to be his starting job to lose, with no NFL experience at all. Farmer is being talked up massively, is it realistic to expect a 4th round guard to start? Not that i think this is a need necessarily.

I think we have some players with potential, but other than Warren and Travis, none of them have actually proven to play to an acceptable level already to be relied upon for real game time action.

Now that's not to say that some of them won't be big time contributors this year, I just feel that it appears as if we are going into this season relying on a huge amount of playing time from guys who are entirely unproven as starters.

Originally Posted by Kray007 (Post 348262)

The Bengals have the best supporting cast since he’s been with the team, better than the one that won a Super Bowl.

So, I thought that I’d compare them with the Colts, position by position.

QB…Indiana Jones vs Joe Burrow. My gut says to go with Burrow and so does my brain. PFF gives Burrow a grade of 91.8. Jones got a 71.7. That’s quite a discrepancy, considering that both guys finished with comparable stats and NFL.com’s end of season QB rankings put Jones at 8 and Burrow at 10. Still, Burrow gets the nod. Advantage Bengals

RB…Taylor versus Chase Brown. By any rational standard, Taylor stands head and shoulders ahead of Cincinnati’s guy. Advantage Colts.

WR…Chase, Higgins, and Iosivas vs Pierce, Downs and whoever else the Colts trot out there. Here, it’s not even close. You can mention Pierce in the same breath as Higgins, and Downs is probably a better slot receiver than Iosivas. But, no one thinks that Dulin could carry Chase’s jockstrap. Advantage Bengals.

TE…Warren vs Drew Sample. Drew who? Advantage Colts.

OL…Raimann, Nelson, Bortoloni, Goncalves, and Travis vs Brown, Fairchild, Karras, Turner, and Mims. None of the Bengal Linemen crack a 70 on PFF’s ratings. 3 Colts come in higher than 80. Travis gets a 73 and change, Goncalves 69. I know that a lot of people have issues with PFF, but in this case, at least, their grades pass the sniff test. Advantage Colts

DE…Latu and Key vs Murphy and Mafe. The uncertainty about who lines up opposite Latu complicates making a comparison. But, Latu is better than either one of those guys and, even if Key wins the job, it’s not a disaster. PFF grades him at 63. Murphy gets a 64. Lest anyone discount that, the numbers for Cincinnati were brutal. Murphy racked up 5 1/2 sacks. Maye picked up 2. Advantage Colts.

DT…Buckner and Stewart vs Lawrence and Allen. Taking off the rose colored glasses for a moment, I’ll allow that Sexy Dexy is probably better than D Buck. By any measure, however, Stewart is better than Allen. On the whole, though, Lawrence’s other worldly ability tips the scales. Advantage Bengals.

LB…Allen and ? Vs Knight, Carter, and Burks. The Colts uncertainty at the position is trumped by the fact that the Bengals might have the worst Linebacker corps in the league. Advantage Colts.

S…Bynum and Haulcy/Wohler vs Cook and Battle. Cook is an excellent Safety, undoubtedly better than Bynum, although you have to wonder if the return of Ward and Gardner elevates his performance. On the other side, whoever the Colts line up will probably be better than Battle. But, probably doesn’t buy you many Quarter Pounders at McDonald’s. Advantage Bengals

CB…Ward and Gardner vs Turner and Hill. Seldom in the annals of the National Football League has any team put together a Cornerback duo as feared as Dax Hill and DJ Turner. It isn’t often that you get one guy capable of shutting down his side of the field, much less two. Seriously, though, all kidding aside, it’s hard to overstate Gardner and Ward’s potential for changing the dynamic of the game. Advantage Colts.

Colts 6 Bengals 4, although you can argue that the Bengals superiority at two of the most important positions in the game tips the scales towards them.

Originally Posted by Oldcolt (Post 348284)

I could not agree more. Plus people get hurt and we have zilch sitting behind these guys. Add to the fact that folks here (and the Colts)are talking like we have a real winner in Leonard, which is incredibly important with the injury status of Jones. To me this guy is a journeyman backup at best. Moody is one fall from retirement and we didn't address the pass rush this off season. I am as unjuiced and depressed about this upcoming season as I have been about any Colt season in the past 60 years. I hope I am wrong but I see another season of futility for us, just like the last decade has been.

Originally Posted by Oldcolt (Post 348284)

I could not agree more. Plus people get hurt and we have zilch sitting behind these guys. Add to the fact that folks here (and the Colts)are talking like we have a real winner in Leonard, which is incredibly important with the injury status of Jones. To me this guy is a journeyman backup at best. Moody is one fall from retirement and we didn't address the pass rush this off season. I am as unjuiced and depressed about this upcoming season as I have been about any Colt season in the past 60 years. I hope I am wrong but I see another season of futility for us, just like the last decade has been.

Originally Posted by Racehorse (Post 348264)

Accurate assessment. Burrow lifts that team because he is a top 5 QB in the league.