There was an article on bengals.com about Kyle Cook that I found interesting. First let me say I cant stand geoff slobson, but for some reason I keep checking in. Anyway the players and coaches seem to be impressed with his intelligence and is toughness on the field. He appears to be getting the offensive line into the right place and helping the young guys learn the playbook.

I know he has never taken a snap in the NFL and what happens in June is a far cry from the beginning of the season. However I am cautiously optimistic about the condition of our offensive line.

I think they will be a much more physical unit this year, as well as playing smarter football. If they can open the running lanes and give Palmer time to throw I will be as happy as a pig in sh*t.

I cant wait to see how they perform against teams that traditionally push our offensive line around. Most notably the steelers and ratbirds.

"intelligence and toughness"

You have to be careful, Bengals with Slobson like those adjectives that are broad based yet arbitrary and hard to prove otherwise and don't necessarily convert to football success like "high-motor". If I remember correctly, guychick was described as mean. These adjectives could probably apply to any of us on this board and yet, we would all su(k on the field.

There's a lengthy and hilarious history of flattering descriptions of Bungle players who, in reality, are NFL jokes.

In fairly recent history, it's been rejects like Justin Smith and Robert Geathers, along with girlcheck. No one should be surprised that the tradition continues.

And no one should be surprised by the Sheep who slurp it up. Feed away, Murf.

"And no one should be surprised by the Sheep who slurp it up."


When you're practicing in shorts, everyone's a stud.





"So he got fired? Big deal. It's happened to the best of us. So he got kicked out of his house by his 400 lb'ed wife?!?!? That's probably better for him anyways."-OldSchooler on ChrisMBHater's absence

As I was reading that latest Hobson gush piece, the question that formed in my mind was, why haven't we heard any of this before?

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/cook-goes-by-play-book/02c77435-a1bc-4df9-b31f-8e285d5b6688

The Bengals ephemeral playoff hopes depend as much on Cook as on any other player. So to justify optimism you must suddenly see great ability in our new starting center. It's inevitable, then, that we'll see more Cook tributes served up as the regular season nears.

a couple of years ago I met Rich Braham and I asked him about Guichuic and he said he thought he would be good but it takes 3 years before you know if he will be able to handle it.

So we won't know if any of these greenhorn centers are worth a crap this season but one thing will be certain is that we will be experiencing some excruciating growing pains

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In Memory of Darren

I think the O-Line is absolutley a weak link on this team.

Whit -- decent LT, we will see.

Livings -- this guy is starting at LG? Who is this guy again?

C -- hopefully Cook won't suck, but he has never played a snap. We shall see, but he never was able to supplant GuyChick on the depth chart so it makes me wonder.

Bobbie Williams -- getting old, play has slipped a little, and he is due for an injury. Still, probably our most consistent and best starter now that Whit has moved to tackle.

Andre Smith -- might be good eventually, but I am expecting a long holdout. If that happens, expect the rookie to get owned a couple times at the beginning of the season, that is if he doesn't get hurt when he finally signs and then reports to camp out of shape.


Their biggest hope is that these guys can run block well which will slow down the pass rush. With these big tackles and Bobbie, it may actually happen if the center and LG play well. But it remains to be seen if Drunkowski can call two run plays in a row without having an aneurism.

Also, if Cook can get the protections down it will be a big boost, that was the worst part of GuyChick's game. He wasn't a dominant blocker either, but there were too many times where the protection just broke down because the rest of the line looked confused. A less talented line can still play well if they are playing well together, but with 4 new starters and one of them a center with no NFL snaps on his bio and one a rookie, how well can we reasonably expect them to play together?

Also, CP needs to improve his play-action stuff. PA should be a big part of this offense with the WRs they have, but he doesn't seem to sell it well, certainly not Boomer-esque. I hope he worked on it, and actually asking Boomer for some pointers wouldn't be a bad idea.

"We do do, and we do it at a very, very high level," Lewis said.

This team will only go as far as the O-line will take them.

If Carson has no time to throw, it doesnt matter if you have Jerry Rice, Steve Largent and TO on the field...

"The American Cancer Society says uninsured patients are 60 percent more likely to die within five years of their diagnosis."

I too expect a contract holdout from Andre Smith. It seems tht Bengals don't give a very strong effort to sign their 1st rounders and that's a shame. They've signed a couple of their late rounders but I wonder if talks have even begun with Smith's agent of the week. I expect Anthony Collins to start the season at RT while Andre the Hut spends his idle days at IHOP and Fatburgers. I also think Kyle Cook will be an upgrade over Ghiaciuk even if it's just because he won't be getting pushed backards into Carson's knees like a human weebil. I hope Whitworth takes an active leadership role with his fellow linemen to work harder and make sure everyone knows their assignments. Even with the best linemen out there figuring out where the Pittsburgh and Baltimore blitzes are coming from is a tall task so preparation is vitally important. If these guys can dedicate themselves to watching film ad nauseum with their coaches they'll stand a much better chance of success.

Part of the reason their play action was so ineffective was because of poor line play, before Palmer got hurt. If you're not concerned about the running game your linebackers have little reason to bite on the fake handoff. Hopefully they can establish their running game early. Starting the season at home against Denver, a very poor team vs. the run should help.

Kyle Cook, I owe you a big apology. Congrats on a great first half of the season.

good work psychostats.

At this point I'd say he's a Pro Bowler.

"For me it is far better to grasp the universe at it really is rather than persist in delusion, no matter how satisfying or reassuring."
-Carl Sagan