Love this piece keep up the good work Jeff. Question: All you kept saying in the off-season is defense, defense, defense. Well now that free agency and the draft are over, how do you think they did? Troy Chapman, Prospect, OH
TROY: Thank you for reading and great to hear from the hometown of former big-league umpire Larry Barnett. Never agreed with him on his no-call in Game Three of the 1975 World Series when Reds bunter Ed Armbrister mauled Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk in the tenth inning. But I had the pleasure of writing a story on Barnett 10 years later and what a great guy who has done so much for patients in V.A. hospitals around the country.
Love what they did on defense. They signed four starters and exactly where they needed them: A 13.5-sacker on the edge, a three technique with the second-most sacks of any defensive tackle in his draft, one of the best slot cornerbacks in the league and a solid, young outside cornerback with 42 NFL starts.
Now look what they have on the first snap of Opening Day, assuming the Vikings come out in three wides. Of their 11 defensive starters, 10 were drafted in the first three rounds. There's clearly more talent there.
Yeah, it would have been nice to sign a veteran edge guy behind Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard. I think the plan was to sign two of them, but when that position's price tag blew up, they made a nice recovery. It's hard to rip them for compensating Hendrickson's 13.5 sacks with the richest free-agent deal in club history and then getting two solid cornerbacks for the price of William Jackson III's deal in Washington.
And, yeah, we took a lot of heat for talking defense, but helping Burrow was exactly what we had in mind.
One defensive stand in Philly on the last series of regulation gives him a win instead of an overtime tie. Just one defensive play in either game against Cleveland may have given them a sweep of the Browns. At the very least, one sack of Baker Mayfield or one pass defensed in the Browns' final drive of the game at Paul Brown Stadium preserves his Bengals rookie-record 406 yards and first fourth-quarter comeback. One interception in Indianapolis would have given him the win instead of Philip Rivers' 28th and next-to-last fourth quarter comeback.
You don't have to just sign an $80 million guard to help him.
Geoff, Maybe a question to ask Joe? Is Joe Burrow planning on wearing some type on knee brace once the season starts? And, how does he feel wearing it? Jim Erhart, Cincinnati, OH
JIM: My colleagues asked him in last Tuesday's Media Zoom. He's wearing one now and while it sounds like he's not a big fan, he knows it's now part of the wardrobe.
I love your posts and have followed "Hobson's Choice " for a long time. What is the status of the signing of the last 2 draft choices? Thanks for your time and response. Gary Bell Middletown, OH
GARY: Thank you for the kind words and for taking the time to write in. Since the draft picks are pretty much slotted, there's not a whole lot to it. It's not a matter of if they'll sign before training camp, but when they'll sign. My guess is Ja'Marr Chase and Jackson Carman are in the fold before the mandatory minicamp breaks June 17.
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Hobson's Choice: Joe Burrow, the Bengals defense and buzz around Cincinnati - Bengals.com
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