By Adam Kiefaber
At first I thought the Bengals didn’t want to sign linebacker Landon Johnson because he was going to receive an outrageous deal similar to Madieu Williams’ in Minnesota or Justin Smith’s in San Francisco.
However, Johnson left for a three-year deal worth only $10 million to play for the Carolina Panthers.
Johnson’s departure creates a giant void at linebacker.
The linebacking core consists of Dhani Jones, Ahmad Brooks, Odell Thurman, Eric Henderson and Rashad Jeanty, who is still unsigned. Not including Jones, every one of those linebackers has injury concerns.
Brooks has never been healthy, Thurman hasn’t played in almost two seasons, Henderson (defensive end in college) was injured before he could even learn how to play the position and Jeanty (DE in Canadian Football League) is still learning.
Even with that mess at linebacker everyone in Cincinnati is discussing the possibility of a 3-4 defense.
The whole idea of talking about the 3-4 defense makes my head spin.
Even though the Bengals techinically run a 4-3 defense, that doesn’t mean that they lineup the same way everytime. In a 3-4 defense, teams lineup linebackers on the line and defensive lineman occasionally drop back in short pass coverage. The same thing happens when a team runs the 4-3 defense.
Every team runs variations of both defenses, so if the Bengals sign a middle linebacker don’t get all excited about the possibility of a 3-4 defense. I also want everyone to remember those couple times last season when the Bengals had only two linebackers healthy. Safety Chinedum Ndukwe had to play linebacker.
Cincinnati needs a linebacker, which brings me to the next question, what will David Pollack do?
Recently he has been cleared to play by his specialist in Los Angeles, but should he play?
Is it worth it?
Despite how thin Cincinnati is at linebacker, most Bengal fans don’t want to see Pollack come back. Not because he wouldn’t help, but because it would be tough to watch him play in fear that he might injury himself.
Personally I agree. I want the Bengals to win, but I would rather not see Pollack in a wheel chair.
3 comments ↓
3-4 defense?, it makes me have vivid flash backs to the “prevent defense” tactics of the Bengals of years gone by, and we all know how well that worked out for us. But hopefully with Landon leaving, we will be able to spend a little more on some good defensive players. It’s our weakest area and the team should be focusing on keeping it as strong as possible.
Brian Simmons and Takeo Spikes are up for grab and probably cheap….might be better to get one of these guys now so we won’t be in the same mess as last year…Being a linebacker is tough and injuries are the order of the day…just ask Pollock. By the way, I agree that Pollock ought to be kept off the football field even if he wants to return.
I think Woodrow hit the nail on the head. All signs point to the Bengals reuniting w/TKO Spikes. They lack depth and leadership, and he could fill both voids at a reasonable price, especially now that McRee’s off the market.
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