The Bengals first mandatory mini-camp is 2 days away, and the media will be swarming to see if Chad Johnson arrives. For the most part, this is a non-story. The season is 4 months away and that is a lot of time to burn bridges or mend fences. The likelihood of Chad’s issues being resolved by Thursday or during the mini-camp is highly doubtful. From multiple reports and through what we have seen in the media, it is fairly obvious that Chad is broke. He wants a new deal with a fat signing bonus so he does not have to wait for his weekly paychecks in September. The Redskins had a deal waiting for him, but the Bengals would not give in. Washington has since moved on and now Chad is stuck like the puppy who lost his way.

As of right now, I only have one opinion on this matter, I feel very, very, incredibly sorry for Drew Rosenhaus. That’s right, I feel sorry for Drew Rosenhaus, even though he got himself into this mess. Drew Rosenhaus is Chad’s agent; meaning Drew is responsible for maxing out on Chad’s earning potential. For the most part, that sounds like an easy and probably very entertaining enterprise. Drew and Chad can play a little hard ball with the Bengals, review a few endorsement deals, ask for a little more money, sit back, relax and rake in the millions. Look at Peyton Manning and his commercial time. However, now that we have seen Chad in action, we can see what a mess this relationship must be. Rosenhaus only makes money on the percentage of income Chad actually gets paid. Once Chad’s irrational spending leaves him broke, I’m sure Rosenhaus gets the call. “Drew, I need money, I need a commercial, I need a new signing bonus.” Rosenhaus is responsible for keeping Chad happy and the money rolling in. But Chad’s own foolish spending and media decisions may have screwed his earning potential. In the past 4 months, Chad has said he will play for 10 different teams, negotiate his own trade, retire, play in the Arena League, move to Hollywood, show up to camp, not show up to camp, show up to camp, and again, not show up to camp. Sometimes Chad changes his mind within a matter of hours. In each case, Rosenhaus must field the Chad phone calls, tell him money is coming, and try to find something that works. Rosenhaus is obliged to run through all of his resources trying to score Chad more money, even though his client is clearly working against him. The only thing Rosenhaus cannot do is tell Chad what would truly help him, “I just got you a monster contract that the Bengals did not have to give. You should save this money, play nice, and try to make a lot of side change through endorsements based on your media friendly personality.” That is not what a man who can blow through $16million in 2 years wants to hear. He wants to hear about the $21million signing bonus the Redskins supposedly had ready for Chad to sign. Telling Chad to save his money and play football would probably get Rosenhaus fired. Sounds like a fun job to do for free while waiting for Chad’s next paycheck.

My prediction for Thursday, Chad shows up but has some undisclosed injury and will not participate.


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This is the battle cry to Marvin Lewis's 2008 t-shirt campaign. What does he mean by now? Here are some possible explanations.

- We are a good enough team to win it all NOW.
- We are getting rid of all of the bad seeds NOW.
- We need to start doing the little things to become a better team NOW.
- If we don't improve this year I will be fired NOW.

I think there is some truth to the list.

ESPN's Sal Paolantonio thinks Marvin Lewis is overrated and needs to win this year to keep his job.

Mocking the draft.com has the Bengals going 6-10 (predictions below)

Cincinnati Bengals
1 at Baltimore Ravens L
2 Tennessee Titans W
3 at New York Giants L
4 Cleveland Browns L
5 at Dallas Cowboys L
6 at New York Jets L
7 Pittsburgh Steelers L
8 Bye
9 Jacksonville Jaguars L
10 at Houston Texans W
11 Philadelphia Eagles W
12 at Pittsburgh Steelers L
13 Baltimore Ravens L
14 at Indianapolis Colts L
15 Washington Redskins W
16 at Cleveland Browns W
17 Kansas City Chiefs W
Total 6W-10L

Will Chad Johnson come to camp? Profootbaltalk.com thinks he will cave and I agree. If he can't afford to pay his property tax then there is no way he can afford to not get paid this season. Even if he does all the deodorant commercials on TV.

Lastly, I am excited at the Jerome Simpson prospect. The kid has 11 inch hands and I think he will be a stud in the league. He also seems like a good guy.




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Here are some random thoughts;

- The Marvin Lewis golf classic was over the weekend and Cincinnati writer Chick Ludwig did a feel good piece about how the Bengals are trying to improve their public image (link)

- I am pretty excited about the draft class, I think if we can get some decent productivity this year from the defensive lineman we have added we could be in ok shape. I am still fairly convinced we are solid in the secondary. I think our weakness is pressure on the quarterback. If given enough time the wide receivers are going to get some separation and get open. It is on the D line to make the quarterback get rid of the ball sooner. Also, if we can limit the rushing yards opponents are racking up against us we could be a middle of the road D.

- Everyone is super excited about the addition of Ben Utecht. Sure he is a pass catching / blocking tight end, but let me give you a couple of other bits of information. Since Ben is moving into town so is his wife, former Miss Minnesota Karyn Stordahl-Utecht. Operation Beautification in the nati is in effect. Also, apparently Ben is an accomplished Christian rock recording artist. He will be releasing his first album this NFL season. (I can't wait for the JTM commercials)


- You could buy this house!!! Yes this week this house will be going for auction. This is the former residence of one Mr. Chris Henry. The bank has foreclosed. Apparently the home purchased for 365,000 and has claims against it for 350,000. (I read Henry has made around 800 dollars in payments on it since September 2005).


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So the Bengals voluntary workouts began yesterday. This little taste of football and the fact that the Reds are so bad has me thinking about the regular season. What, in my opinion, is our biggest question mark?

The defense? - This is a terrible defensive unit that has no where to go but up. We are not going to turn into an overnight top 5 defense but with some solid corner (Joseph, Hall, O'Neil) and safety (White, Ndukwe) play, combined with some pressure up front from Geathers and Odom I think this could be a much improved D.

WR? - Even though this will be a topic of discussion all season because of the cast of characters involved, I have confidence that #9 will get the ball out to whoever is open.

RB? - This is our current roster:

Rudi Johnson: Nine starts and 497 yards last year because of a pulled hamstring.

Kenny Watson: Led the team with 763 rushing yards on 178 carries (4.3).

Chris Perry: Healthy after suffering a fractured right ankle.

DeDe Dorsey: Showed flashes of brilliance in limited action.

Kenny Irons: Likely to open season on the Physically Unable to Perform list.

While none of these guys are going to be at the top of the Fantasy draft boards, this list makes me excited. Let's for a moment say that Rudi is not on the decline, he had a bad year last year due to injury to himself and the O line. A healthy power back like Rudi Johnson paired with a healthy Chris Perry led the Bengals offense to the playoffs in 2005.

Of all the running backs listed, Chris Perry has me the most pumped. If this guy can stay healthy the Bengals offense has a whole new dimension. In 2005 Perry had 51 receptions. This combined with a pass catching tight end (Utecht) and the Bengals are going to move the ball.


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Now that the 2008 NFL Draft is over, all of the pundits are grading each team’s performance. These grades mean virtually nothing as they are just a pundit’s guess on NFL careers based on college play and combine showings. Next season, the draft guru’s will not even have to answer for the grades given out because fans forget all about past drafts and only watch for the present spectacle. With that in mind, we are going to give out a true draft grade that can be evaluated. We will go back in time 5 years, to Marvin’s first draft as a Bengal, and grade the team’s performance.
Of course looking back now, we will see many players the Bengals missed in each round. We aren’t going to go round for round and say whom the Bengals should have picked and the major players they missed. We are going to evaluate their picks based on draft day knowledge and see how well they did.

Round 1 -- Carson Palmer. Palmer was the can’t miss #1 pick; Heisman Trophy Winner, Prototype NFL QB, college team success, strong workouts, and coming out of a nationally prominent program at USC. The Bengals had to take Palmer and he is now one of the top QBs in the NFL.

Round 2 -- Eric Steinbach. Steinbach was a steal in the 2nd round. If the 2003 Draft were done today, Steinbach would be a 1st round selection. The Bengals lost Steinbach in free agency, but he was still a successful 2nd round pick.

Round 3 -- Kelley Washington. The Bengals were taking a flyer on a player that had great potential, but not a lot of NCAA experience. If Washington came into Cincinnati with the attitude he currently has with the Patriots, he would have been a success. Washington initially refused to play special teams and believed himself to be the 3rd receiver. Once let go by the Bengals, Washington was signed by the Patriots and relegated to special teams duty. A special teams player with decent receiving ability would be acceptable in the 3rd round.

Round 4 -- Dennis Weathersby. Again the Bengals took a chance, this time on a highly successful college player that was shot days before the draft. Had he not been shot, Weathersby would have been a first or second round draft pick. After recovering from the gunshot wound, Weathersby was in a car accident that ended his NFL career.

Round 4 -- Jeremi Johnson. Great value at the end of round 4. Johnson has been locked in as the Bengals starting fullback for years. He is a tough and durable blocker in the Bengals running game.

Round 5 -- Khalid Abdullah. Great athlete from the small school Mars Hill. Initially, Abdullah looked able to add special teams help, but he couldn’t stay healthy. He was eventually cut from the team.

Round 6 -- Langston Moore. As happens with many 6th round picks, Moore played 2 years with the Bengals and has since bounced around the league. He currently plays for the Detroit Lions.

Round 7 -- Scoot Kooistra. Excellent pick for the 7th round. Kooistra has spent his career being an insurance policy at right tackle. He will never be a good starter in the NFL, but he is more than able in his role as backup.

Round 7 -- Elton Patterson. Patterson played 3 NFL seasons between the Bengals and Jaguars. He recorded 1 career sack.

Overall, I would say this is a very strong draft. The Bengals landed a top tier franchise QB, a durable fullback, a strong offensive line starter and backup, and a few players to add spot help. Grading this draft, I would give them an A-, mainly due to the Washington, Weathersby and Abdullah picks. If the Bengals could have added a little more help or depth to the roster in those rounds, they would have had an outstanding draft.

Let’s see what was said at the time about the Bengals 2003 NFL Draft.

From Len Pasquarelli at ESPN:
Grade: A-
“Guard Eric Steinbach (No. 2) is a heist and, while he seems to be a guy without a position at times, his athleticism alone could win him a starting spot. Wide receiver Kelley Washington (No. 3) is going to play a lot in 2003, provided his surgically-repaired neck is rehabilitated.
Best value: If he recovers from the gunshot wounds that he sustained last weekend, cornerback Dennis Weathersby (No. 4) will be a great addition”

The only A+ that season was given to the Baltimore Ravens for getting Terrell Suggs, Kyle Boller, Musa Smith, and Ovie Mughelli. In Pasquarelli’s defense, he then added:

“The only caveat is that Baltimore had to swap its 2004 first-round choice to secure the pick needed for quarterback Kyle Boller. Let's hope coach Brian Billick, who has yet to start the same quarterback in consecutive openers, can make something of the young passer. Because if he can't, the deal becomes a big gamble, and this draft suddenly wouldn't look quite as spectacular.”

Okay, I take it back, maybe the analyst's draft grades are correct. Let’s believe everything we hear.


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Recently a fellow Bengals blog has been threatened with legal action by the Cincinnati Bengals.

I have looked over the issue and the backlash and these are my thoughts.

1. While I agree that sometimes corporations go to far using the law to bully smaller organizations, I don't believe the Cincinnati Bengals are at fault in this issue.

2. Copyrighted content was blatantly used in the promotion of a non authorized site.

3. Bengals merchandise was being used as a tool to gain revenue for the site.

4. The writer is the one with the issues against the Bengals (and has since declared his allegiance to the browns) not the site owners and they intend to continue to run the site legally.

The bloggers for the Bengals are a close group and I have personally met most of them. I think it is important for the fan to have a voice but I don't have the illusion that somehow people rely on the information we provide. If people like what we have to say great, come back, tell your friends. I am just not that interested in a legal battle or an uprising.


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If you want to call the Bengals anything, call them consistent. Here are the Bengals draft rules:

1. First Round pick is usually a solid all round person; high energy, team captain type of player.
2. After the first round, all standards are off allowing the team to draft any bad character, low motivation player.
3. However, for every “bad apple” the Bengals need to compensate with a high character player.
4. The Bengals must draft at least one player that causes everyone watching the draft to collectively say, “WHO? Wait, who was that, again?”

The rules held true to form in the 2008 draft. Keith Rivers is a solid first round pick that was team captain at USC. He falls right in line with past 1st rounders, Leon Hall, David Pollack, Chris Perry, Carson Palmer, Levi Jones, Justin Smith, Takeo Spikes, Brian Simmons, etc. Hopefully he can emerge as the leader this defense has been lacking for years. For some reason, the Bengals steer clear of character issues in the first round, but it has hurt them as they passed on Randy Moss and Warren Sapp. Perhaps this is because Mike Brown does not want to risk losing the money on a large first round investment. By drafting troubled players in later rounds, he can call it “Finding value” instead of saying, “I don’t care how big of an f--- up this guy is as long as he comes cheap.” That brings us to rule #2.
The Bengals drafted 4 players with character and effort questions, Pat Sims, Anthony Collins, Jason Shirley, and Mario Urrutia. Some have minor issues that could be resolved now that football is an all day occupation, but that is to be seen. The biggest offender, literally, is the 6-5, 340 pound Jason Shirley. He played in only 3 games this past season as he was suspended and then kicked off the team due to off field activity. He also has a court date pending for DUI and hit-and-run. Since the case will be resolved after the draft, Shirley could face discipline from the league. Pat Sims had family issues while in college, including the sudden death of his sister. He left the team for a year and struggled most of his time at Auburn. However, he showed flashes of dominance this past season when he could put it together. Anthony Collins and Mario Urrutia have smaller issues as they are raw talents who left college early for the draft. Scouts question their maturity and effort as Collins was suspended due to discipline, and Urrutia had to be benched because he could not control himself at times. Hopefully a few of these guys can put it together for the Bengals and capitalize on their talent before it is too late.
Let’s go through the players the Bengals drafted late because the player slipped due to character issues, and check the Bengals success rate:
Frostee Rucker, AJ Nicholson, Reggie McNeal, Ahmad Brooks, Odell Thurman, Chris Henry, Matthias Askew, Dennis Weathersby, Chad Johnson, TJ Houshmandzadeh, Corey Dillon, Tremain Mack. To be fair, TJ did not have a bad reputation, but his draft stock was probably hurt due to being associated with Dennis Erickson and the collection of morons he had at Oregon State. Looking at Bengals history, the hit rate looks to be 1 in 4 for troubled players. If only one of the current crop pans out, let’s hope one of the DTs can help the Bengals stop the run.
The “WHO?” pick this year is obvious as very few people were ready to hear Jerome Simpson called in the 2nd round. Time will tell if the Bengals made a smart move or not, but one skill the Bengals lack is gauging the interest of other teams. While Simpson excited the Bengals staff, did they really have to take him in the 2nd round? Were other teams waiting to jump on the chance to pick him? I doubt it, I think the Bengals could have picked Simpson in the 3rd or maybe even 4th round.
Overall here are quick reactions to all of the picks:
Round 1 LB Keith Rivers -- Consensus solid pick. Team Captain started 36 games at USC.
Round 2 WR Jerome Simpson -- Jury is out on the Bengals. Limas Sweed was taken 7 picks later by the Steelers, so we will be able to judge this pick twice a season for years to come.
Round 3 DT Pat Sims -- One year college starter. Great athlete for his size if he finds the motivation.
Round 3 WR Andre Caldwell -- Outstanding value in round 3. School record for receptions at Florida.
Round 4 OT Anthony Collins -- All American Tackle. Still considered raw after only 1 year of tackle. Will have time to develop behind Willie, Levi, Andrews and Kooistra.
Round 5 DT Jason Shirley -- Huge and athletic. Many issues and question marks. Total wild card.
Round 6 S Corey Lynch -- Great athlete and aggressive player. Should add immediate help to special teams.
Round 6 TE Matt Sherry -- Team Captain, showed speed during his workouts. Can develop behind Bengals current TEs.
Round 7 DE Angelo Craig -- If he can run, could turn into to Andre Frazier, another UC standout. Special teams ace that could add pass rush help.
Round 7 WR Mario Urritia -- Huge receiver with focus issues. Could become 3rd down and goal line threat if he can put it together.

The Bengal that had the worst weekend is Chad Johnson as the team drafted 4 pass catchers to prepare for the upcoming season. But even worse for CJ85, the team most interested in his services, the Redskins, drafted pass catchers with their first 3 picks. Chad and Drew can say “Bye-bye” to any leverage they had leading into the draft. It will be interesting to see the media spin put to this one now that Chad does not have an easy option. Hopefully Drew bought Chad a beer and said, “Lo Siento, Ocho. Hemos perdido mucho dinero. Mi error, perro”


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