SAD NEWS: Ja’Marr Chase Has Announce His Resignation From Cincinnati Bengals Today
LAS VEGAS _ Boomer Esiason of CBS, as breezy as his open-collar shirt, offered a “What’s up, kids?” to the reporters at his table before declaring the Bengals “the best team in the division when they’re all healthy.”
Chris Simms, as a make-up person dabbed at his face before an appearance for NBC, painted it with a broad brush when he observed, “I’d be shocked with what’s been created there and the quarterback and the toughness of the Bengals, I think they’ll be right back in the mix.”
After leafing through his handwritten notes from last month’s Pro Football Hall of Fame selection process, media industrialist and father of FMIA Peter King looked up and decided.
“The fact these guys figured out a way to get Jake Browning like 88 percent of Joe Burrow is, I think, incredible.
I’m very bullish on this coaching staff … I think they’re going to be good.”
During Tuesday’s drive-by sampling of the national media on Radio Row and in press conferences as it gathered for Sunday’s Super Bowl, the Bengals remain a favorite of the punditry class before the NFL barrels into the offseason.
They cite infrastructure, coaching, and Joseph Lee Burrow.
“To me, Zac Taylor and Duke Tobin have built an impressive program and culture,” said Ben Volin, The Boston Globe’s NFL writer, of the Bengals head coach and director of player personnel, respectively.
“I thought they were going to fall out after they went to the Super Bowl, but they have really come back just as strong.
For them to even get back into the playoff hunt, it’s a real sign of toughness. If Burrow is healthy, they’re at the top.
If you look at the history of the Bengals in the last 20 years, their runs have been dictated by great drafts,” said Whitworth, a member of that 2006 franchise-building class that included Johnathan Joseph and Domata Peko. “Not just good players who could start, but great ones.
“Look at what we did from 2011-15 (when they went to the playoffs every year) with guys like A.J. Green, Geno Atkins, and Carlos Dunlap.
And then when Joe came, there were those great drafts and now they’re at the end of that trying to keep as many of them as possible.
They’ve got to kill the last draft and this one.
