Every day there are three things, none worth devoting an individual post to, but each worth at least mentioning.
(Photo: Getty Images)
1) Amir Garrett. I heard this question about few times, when his (temporary) demotion to Louisville was announced yesterday...
BUT WHAT MESSAGE DOES IT SEND???????????
The correct answer is, of course, who cares?
The Reds shouldn't be in the business of allowing the messages to dictate their decision-making. They should be in the business of protecting their best assets and keeping them for as long as possible. If we're worried about a message, the one that was sent by shipping Amir down I-71 was that he's an important enough part of their future to protect and that a franchise that just a few years ago was throwing money around like a college girl with her new credit card has adopted a newer philosophy of fiscal responsibility.
A few weeks of Amir Garrett in Louisville could mean an extra year of Amir Garrett in Cincinnati.
That's a good thing.
2) 8.5. That's the current over/under for 2017 Bengals wins, released yesterday by Bovada. There's been a surge of optimism since the draft, and I believe the Bengals did improve with the picks they made.
But....to improve by four wins will mean that whole lot of players that have little to no NFL experience will have to make a significant impact. It'll mean that a shaky offensive line from a year ago improved despite losing its best two guys. It'll mean that John Ross and Joe Mixon are good enough to raise the caliber of the offense. And it'll mean that a defense that was slow and un-intimidating last season will possess opposite characteristics this season.
Individually, all of those things are do-able. Collectively? I don't know, man.
Heart says over. Head says under. Either way, this doesn't seem like a wager I'd want to make. What say you?