Oldfaithful
Hall of Famer
Actually their rookie class is one of the biggest boom or bust one's I've ever seen.
1. John Ross is a walking talking injury. He's explosive but he's always got something lingering at every moment. He makes Breshad Perriman look dependable in terms of durability and that's a bad thing. Talented player, there's a reason I was happy they drafted him.
2. Joe Mixon is one mishap away from being suspended long term. He's probably their best pick(he's got pro bowl potential as a rookie), but I've met the guy personally. I will be the first to tell you: he's a dumbass thug who's going to get himself into some shit at some point.
3. Jordan Willis(A guy I know you like. He is a freak athlete and I will give him that) is not only a one speed rusher, but a straight line guy with not as many pass rushing moves as you'd think. The ones he does have, are predictable and few.
4. Carl Lawson isn't as explosive as he was two years ago, and like Ross has concerning injury history. (I know you want to criticize Ozzie at every turn because of your high and mighty attitude, but we clearly got the better two linebackers this draft despite what your analytics say about Tim Williams).
(This analyisis is from my upcoming article)
I think it'll be close. But ultimately we actually come out with a win. That oline is just as bad of shape as ours(and is arguably worse). And while Dunlap and Atkins are better than anybody we have, we have more people who can bring the hurt(Judon, Tim Williams, Bowser, Suggs, Pierce is a good pass rusher from the interior, etc. Not to mention we have Mosley and Jefferson who are excellent blitzers if we need to manufacture pressure). AJ Green causes problems, but it's nothing that Jimmy and Weddle can't handle. Eifert is a massive mismatch problem and he worries me, but that's a big reason we've added Jefferson, who's held his own against some other TE's on Eifert's level(Greg Olson being my favorite example of the bunch). I like Tyler Boyd as well, and he might cause some issues as he's a good route runner. But our secondary is much improved from last year, and we should be able to bring the heat.
Offensively we have to deal with the likes of Atkins, and Dunlap. And Willis(despite him being overrated imo) will likely abuse Austin Howard to no end if he lines up against him. The thing is though, the line has struggled massively in run blocking, not pass protection. We actually have looked solid in that facet. And since captain checkdown is our QB, it's only fair that we got him Danny Woodhead, who's a hell of a lot better in the open field than Dennis Pitta could be. With Burfict and Adam Jones out I expect Jeremy Maclin and Danny Woodhead to have good(notice how I did not say big) games. Even if Flacco is rusty, he should have enough time to dump it off to Woodhead. Possibly might have an opportunity or two for a deep shot to Wallace or Perriman.
I won't do a score prediction, but it is likely to be really close. I predict a W, but it won't be as easy as some members predict because the Bengals are not bad; they're mediocre. We're only slightly better as a team.
