Meeting with Bengals beat writer

[Cincinnati Kid]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I went to a Bengals forum down at the Cincinnati Enquirer to discuss their coverage of the team as well as some questions about the upcoming season with the sports editor and Mark Curnutte, the beat writer. I'll touch on the two points that I found really interesting.

1) Next year should be real interesting in terms of resigning players. Deals for Big Willie, Steinbach and Levi on the O-line and Justin Smith on D are the major ones that came up. On Justin, if he puts up huge numbers, don't look for Marvin to chase his value if it gets too high. "Team over individuals", Curnutte said.

2) I asked about the different looks we would see from the Bengals D and Curnutte said that the blitzes that Bresnahan is looking to use are risky but by daring the other team to block everyone that's coming, we should see increases in sacks. Also, Pollack will play both SOLB but we will also see him play with his hand down. One particular blitz he illustrated was Geathers (best pure pass rusher) coming with Pollack on the strong side with a delay from Herring, or other S, coming up the middle. Obviously the speed on D is the biggest upgrade and hopefully a better pass rush will lead to picks for Tory, Madieu, Keiwan and Deltha.


I'm going to the practice this Saturday at Paul Brown so I'll post more of what I see there. Later.
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"I don't play against a particular team. I play against the idea of losing." -ERIC CANTONA