Reggie McNeal has been the starting QB for the last three seasons for the Texas A&M Aggies.  In his last 34 college games (33 starts) McNeal threw for 6,536 yards with 38 TD and only 20 interceptions.  McNeal is a super athlete that reminds many of Antwan Randle El.  McNeal has better size than Randle El and runs a 4.32 40, but he has never really played receiver and it will take some time.  The Bengals are loaded at wideout, so they can afford to wait for McNeal to get experience.  McNeal also has the big arm for the trick play.

Finally, a good pick for the Bengals who have proven that they value talent more than character.  Nicholson is a fierce hitting OLB from Florida State.  In A.J.’s last 24 games in college he had 188 tackles, 21.5 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 4 passes broken up and three interceptions.  Nicholson has outstanding 4.7 speed for a man of his size (6-1, 241).  Nicholson will be a steal for the Bengals as long as he keeps his nose clean, he was sent home before Florida State’s bowl game because of allegations of a rape.

Peko is a huge defensive tackle from Michigan State.  Peko, like Joseph, only has one year of starting experience.  Peko is a huge, raw run stuffer that plays as if he’s in a phone booth…..because unless you run right at him, he’s not gonna tackle you.  Obviously, the Bengals like his size over the center…which in this division is crucial.

Frostee Rucker is a 6-3, 263 pound DE from USC.  He started 25 of his last 26 games in college, and totaled 21.5 tackles for a loss and had 9 sacks.  Rucker is aggressive and has a knack for getting in the backfield of the opposing offense, but only if he’s un-blocked because he doesn’t have the cement in his shoes to stand his ground against big offensive tackles.  Once again, the Bengals drafted Rucker alot higher than most teams had him ranked….as he was projected to be a 5th or 6th round draft pick.

Whitworth is a giant of a man at 6-7, 328 pounds.  He started every game in his career at LSU (52 games) and played against some pretty good competition there.  He is strictly a right tackle type because he doesn’t have the speed to protect the blind side of Carson Palmer.  Whitworth’s strength is his run-blocking due to his powerful body sculpted with many hours in the weight room.

Whitworth was drafted with next year in mind as LT Levi Jones and RT Willie Anderson are in the final years of their contracts.  The year of learning behind those two fine tackles with accelerate the learning process. 

Joseph could have used another year in college as he only has one year of starting experience at South Carolina.  His measureables are all exceptional except his size which is lacking.  He fills well in run support and is a solid tackler, but Joseph was a need pick by the Bengals.  However, he has the look of a nickle back until he gets accustomed to the speed and skill of NFL receivers.

The Steelers season would have ended last January 8th without the cheap shot on Carson Palmer’s knee by the EVIL Kimo Von Oelhoffen (now with the Jets).  So on September 24th in Pittspuke, I would send my linebackers after “Big Ben” and spear him in his cracked dome.  Payback time.  And if you don’t succeed in September, there’s always New Years’ Eve in the Jungle.  That will be a fun game to be at!

With Carson Palmer coming off a serious knee injury, you would have thought that keeping Jon Kitna around would have been the smart thing to do.  After all, he did pass for 10,707 yards in a Bengal uniform over 46 starts for them.  If anything happens to Palmer or he isn’t fully recovered the Bengals will free-fall with new back-up Anthony Wright.  Wright couldn’t even beat out KYLE BOLLER in Baltimore.  In 19 career NFL starts, he has thrown for 3,547 yards with 20 TD and 25 INT.  Nothing to write home about.  The Bengals whole season depends on Palmer.

As you can see we have started a blog that is nothing but Bengals Football and are in need of a moderator. The moderator have a knack for writing sports “columns” and be an all around nice guy. There will be compensation in the form of a small salary. Basically we would like you to contribute to the blog by posting daily, and generally riling things up a bit. We would like this person to take ownership of the content, posting comments, as well as pruning and censoring articles. If you’re interested or have any further questions please feel free to email me at: curt@nfllocker.com

Curt Owens