22 hours ago, John Anthony said:

Should have been done last week.  I’ll always appreciate AJ but the fit doesn’t make sense for the Bengals, or him at this point.

@theguru

At this point, AJ is probably untradeable due to his salary. John Ross is the better trading chip.

3 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

@theguru

At this point, AJ is probably untradeable due to his salary. John Ross is the better trading chip.

I don't know how the NFL works, wouldn't a new team be able to negotiate a new deal with Green?

I have not been happy at all with Ross but I wouldn't give up yet.

AJ would bring back pennies on the dollar because of:

Age

Contract- amount of money and no control over him past this season

What is seen as declining production.

They MIGHT get a 5th round pick for him at the deadline and some team is in it that has a lot of cap room and a injury at the position. 

As to the original question they have to find a way to draft well and early next spring. Also wouldn't hurt to not only pursue a couple top free agent OL but maybe even over pay to convince them to come. One thing people fail to realize is the amount of "street cred" Marvin had around the league and could convince free agents to come to Cincy for fair value. Zac Taylor is no where near his level when it comes to that. 

1 hour ago, theguru said:

I don't know how the NFL works, wouldn't a new team be able to negotiate a new deal with Green?

I have not been happy at all with Ross but I wouldn't give up yet.

AJ is making $18M this year. A team he is traded to is on the hook for that. Yes, they could negotiate but AJ is not giving that up. I don't see anyone wanting to pay him that after what he has shown this year, and I sure don't see anyone wanting to sign him for next year.

Just now, Voice of Reason said:

AJ is making $18M this year. A team he is traded to is on the hook for that. Yes, they could negotiate but AJ is not giving that up. I don't see anyone wanting to pay him that after what he has shown this year, and I sure don't see anyone wanting to sign him for next year.

I was disappointed when they resigned him for the year.

There are 4 or 5 OL projected to go in the first half of the 1st round draft next year. 

The Bengals need to work to get into position to get two of those guys, either through a trade for a pick or tanking and trading the #1 (Lawrence) or #2 (Fields) pick for multiple picks in the first round to restock the line.

Joe Burrow looks to be special, it would be a shame if the Bengals didn't go all out immediately to surround him with what he needs to succeed. 

 

It appears Redmond will be making the start at right guard this week, he surely can’t do any worse!!

16 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

It appears Redmond will be making the start at right guard this week, he surely can’t do any worse!!

Worth a try. If he has zero whiff blocks, it will be an improvement.

On 9/28/2020 at 9:11 AM, nkypete said:

Their technique is horrible.  To their credit, they are very polite as they all wave to the defensive linemen and linebackers as they go by.  Even Williams at LT has been very bad.

Jonah Williams at LT has been the one guy on that line that isn't terrible, he's not great, but he's really a rookie so that is to be expected. 

37 minutes ago, R1 sports fan said:

Jonah Williams at LT has been the one guy on that line that isn't terrible, he's not great, but he's really a rookie so that is to be expected. 

I have high hopes for him.  However, in a replay in Sunday's game, I could see that he was brutally beaten in a bull rush by an Eagles defensive lineman.  Is this a coaching issue on technique?

9 hours ago, nkypete said:

I have high hopes for him.  However, in a replay in Sunday's game, I could see that he was brutally beaten in a bull rush by an Eagles defensive lineman.  Is this a coaching issue on technique?

If I remember right on the play you were talking about, he did get beat pretty bad, but they threw the ball 50 times and he was only beaten a couple. To be far Jonah is 1 on 1, on a island, every play, so he’s not going to win every rep.

10 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Worth a try. If he has zero whiff blocks, it will be an improvement.

What I was thinking too, at least get in their way and make them go around you instead of a straight line to Joe!!

On 9/28/2020 at 10:11 AM, nkypete said:

Their technique is horrible.  To their credit, they are very polite as they all wave to the defensive linemen and linebackers as they go by.  Even Williams at LT has been very bad.

While Williams hasn’t been great, I don’t think he has been that bad. His pass blocking grade according to PFF is actually in the 70s, which is really good. His run blocking hasn’t been great though. 
 

I do think he will end up actually being a good one. Unlike Ced, Fisher, and Price. 
 

Hopefully the OSU fans who still try to defend Price before this year, saying it was just injuries. Now see that he just simply isn’t good. He is a backup center in this league at best. 

2 hours ago, futurecoach said:

While Williams hasn’t been great, I don’t think he has been that bad. His pass blocking grade according to PFF is actually in the 70s, which is really good. His run blocking hasn’t been great though. 
 

I do think he will end up actually being a good one. Unlike Ced, Fisher, and Price. 
 

Hopefully the OSU fans who still try to defend Price before this year, saying it was just injuries. Now see that he just simply isn’t good. He is a backup center in this league at best. 

I will give Williams the benefit of the doubt. I want him to succeed.  He came from Alabama and was dominant in college.  There is always concern after a serious injury like he had last year.  I'm hoping that replay from Sunday's game that I mentioned earlier in the thread was an anomaly.  Like all of us, I'm disgusted with how bad the Bengals O-line is as a whole.  I'm searching for answers.  If someone like Williams becomes consistently sub-par, was he overrated?  Is it "group think" (along with his poorly qualified colleagues)?   Is it bad coaching?  I watched a bit of the Chiefs/Ravens game the other night - the Chiefs had some missing parts on their O-line, but were still able to perform very well as a unit.   It makes no sense to me.  Burrow should be given the same opportunity to succeed as Mahomes.

I heard Willie Anderson talking the other night about offensive line play and he made some really good points. The most pertinent point to this discussion were his comments about how much he relied on the guards next to him. For someone like Williams who is still trying to figure it out and doesn't have a good and/or experienced guard next to him either, the challenge is even more significant.  The same is true for Bobby Hart.  I am not defending him but pointing out that he is not getting any help at all from the guard playing next to him which makes him look even worse.

 Dave Lapham often talks about how offensive line play is like making a fist. All 5 parts have to work together to have really good line play.  Williams is good enough that we know he is a building block and Trey Hopkins looks solid.  The Bengals have to find competent guards to add in. Add those pieces and the line as a whole will improve a lot even if they aren't pro bowl quality. They just need to be competent.

 One more thing I will add is Zac Taylor has to recognize who his line is and build schemes around who they are. He can't build game plans the way he really wants to as if he had a good line, and ignore the fact that his line can't protect the quarterback. If that means more 2 tight end sets, that's what he has to do if this offensive line can't perform better.