Bengals mailbag, Part 2: Why should fans continue to be emotionally invested?

I never expected a Bengals mailbag to be stuffed with questions about unrequited love, economic forecasts and Rob Halford, but here we are.

Fresh on the heels of Part I of the Bengals mailbag, Part II touches on various subjects from third-string risers to first-round sliders and everything in between.

Let’s get to it:

As a lifetime Bengals fan going back to the early 1980s, why should I begin to again invest emotionally in the Bengals? Why is the result going to be different from all the other new beginnings we’ve had over the years? Why should I once again place my heart in the hands of an organization that continues to be owned by Mike Brown? After 30 years of emotional investment, I checked out after the 2015 season and playoffs. Why should I check back in? My relationship with the Bengals has been the least-rewarding relationship I’ve had in my entire life and, not coincidentally, the relationship in which I have been the most abused. Convince me to risk it again. I want to believe. — James A.

I’m not sure I can answer this one. And I certainly can’t offer you any guarantees. This is something you have to decide for yourself. But you know the old saying, “It’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.”

Here’s another thought: If they find a way to put it all together again and become a relevant, postseason team, you’re going to jump on board. You just will. There is an unmistakable buzz of electricity in town when the team is good. Even if you don’t watch the games on Sunday, you can’t avoid it. Just talking to people and feeling the excitement will suck you back in. So wouldn’t it be more fun to climb on the roller-coaster in the terminal rather than trying to parachute in mid-ride?

Maybe the best way to look at it is to accept there is going to be disappointment. Even if the team gets really good and starts stringing together playoff appearances, no one can expect the Bengals to win the Super Bowl every year. And fans take those playoff losses harder than the ones that eliminate a team from contention in December (or November).

I am curious about Jake Dolegala. The Bengals kept Jake on the 53-man roster last year out of fear someone would claim him off the practice squad. Yet, when the Bengals gave Ryan Finley his three-game tryout last year, I was a bit surprised they didn’t also give Jake some snaps at the end of games. How did he look in practice last year, and where do you think he fits in the Bengals’ future plans? — Jim E.

The practice question is tough to answer because the media sees only the first 30 minutes, which usually involves stretching and some position drills. And even if we were to watch a whole practice, there wouldn’t have been much to go on. There was a lot to like about what he did in training camp and the preseason, but there’s still more potential there than polish.

As for this year, the battle for the backup quarterback job will be one of the most interesting to watch, even though I don’t think it will be a winner-take-all competition. With the rosters bumping to 55 and a suspect offensive line protecting rookie starter Joe Burrow, I think we’ll see the Bengals ride with the three quarterbacks on the roster again.

Mike Brown is a rich man, but compared to other NFL owners he is almost a pauper with most of his wealth tied to the team. Without deep cash reserves, how do you think that loss of revenues from 2020 and a potential drop in the 2021 salary cap, will affect potential contact extensions and other free agent signings? — Karen P.

I hate to speculate with hypothetical questions, and anything regarding what the 2020 season will look like is still a guess at this point. I will say this, a season without fans would not affect football owners as severely as it would the other major sports owners. We’re talking about eight games compared to 81 in baseball and 41 in basketball and hockey. Most of the cash comes from the television package, which will be unaffected, and there is shared revenue in the NFL.

As much as I try to avoid the hypothetical, owners — and business leaders in all industries — cannot. They must have contingencies. This whole situation definitely complicates the issue of negotiation extensions, but I honestly do not know what exactly the effect will be. I don’t think we’ll see any extensions announced in July, when they usually get them done. And we might see the Bengals be willing to extend their usual deadline of the start of the regular season to finalize deals.

For a fan from out of town (Toronto), what are some of the must-dos/sees/eats of the city and gameday experience if I were to spend a weekend and see a game in Cincinnati? —  Curtis S.

The eats part is really tough because there are so many great options. The Eagle is my favorite restaurant. It’s a bit north of downtown, 15 blocks or so, so you would need to Uber if you’re staying closer to the stadium. It’s known for its chicken, but its brown sugar-glazed bacon is my favorite appetizer I’ve ever had anywhere, and its mac ‘n cheese is in my top three. A few blocks farther north is Findlay Market, which is always voted one of the best food markets in the world. It’s worth a visit even if you aren’t buying anything to take home. The Maplewood Kitchen is a must for breakfast, but prepare for a wait. It’s almost always busy, which tells you how great it is. My other favorites include Lucius Q and Eli’s. Both are barbecue places and I love them equally.

And, to be perfectly honest, as a 50-something who lives 20 miles north of the city, I’m probably not the best person to ask. You won’t go wrong with any of my suggestions, but I’m sure there are dozens of others that I haven’t tried. It might be a good idea to do some crowdsourcing on Twitter.

As for the gameday experience, make sure you check out Bengal Jim’s tailgate. Paul Dehner Jr. wrote about it last year.

This feels like a prove-it year for Zac Taylor. Obviously doesn’t have to win it all, but he has to show improvement. Besides the win-loss record, what are you looking to see in Year 2 to see if Taylor is the coach of the future? —  J.R. G.

You’re right about it being a prove-it year for Taylor. All the pressure sits squarely on the shoulders of the second-year coach. And his No. 1 job is to develop Joe Burrow into a great, not good, starting quarterback. That’s why the Bengals hired a young, offensive mind with a quarterback background, knowing change at that position was imminent and it would be the new coach’s responsibility to build everything around the new quarterback. That time is here.

As for other things to look for beyond the win-loss record, something that really stuck out last year was how he kept together that group in the midst of an awful season and in spite of a controversial benching of Andy Dalton. “Culture” is an overused term in sports, but it absolutely had to be established, and Taylor did that. He and the rest of the staff learned which players they wanted to ride with and which they needed to get rid of (or let leave on their own in free agency). There could be a similar point in 2020 where things aren’t going well, and that will be something to watch, whether the locker room begins to fracture and players start to doubt Taylor in his second year.

The other thing I’ll be watching is how he develops as a play-caller, especially in the red zone. I was a big fan of the way he (and Dan Pitcher) aggressively managed game situations last year, but Taylor will be the first to tell you there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to the play-calling.

Any chance of a William Jackson extension? Can he bring it under the second year of Lou Anarumo? —  Mark S.

Jackson’s ball skills last year, especially his inability to track deep passes, was troubling. And last year is all this coaching staff has to go on. I’m not saying Jackson can’t develop into what everyone expected him to be when the Bengals took him in the first round in 2016, but he’s in the contract line behind A.J. Green and Joe Mixon. And even if they can’t get deals done with either of them, the Bengals would be wise to wait on Jackson based on what he’s shown thus far in his career. Let 2020 be a prove-it year for him.

Have been a season ticket holder for the last 15 years. In that time I have gone to 17 home games against the Steelers and only witnessed two wins. Is anyone in the Bengals organization embarrassed about this or is it only the fans? — Tom S.

They’re not going to come out and use the word “embarrassed,” but it can’t sit well with anyone employed by the organization. I wonder if any other team has ever gone 15-2 over a 17-game stretch on another team’s home field. I think you just gave me a “Jay’s Got Stats” segment idea for a future podcast.

I think this year’s Pittsburgh game might be the biggest one on the schedule. Imagine if the Bengals are hovering around .500 in December when the Steelers come to town and the Bengals win, in prime time no less. Imagine what that would do to restore faith and build momentum in the fan base. Now imagine the same scenario, they’re hanging around .500 and the Steelers come to town and beat them again, under the lights, to eliminate them from playoff contention. Oh, the humanity.

The improvement from Week 9 to 17 last year is not necessarily the trend that we will see from Week 1 in 2020. So my question is what has the staff seen from the offensive line that makes them so confident for the next season to virtually ignore making additions to the group other than sixth-round pick Hakeem Adeniji? — Dan H.

Their faith in the development of the young offensive linemen is genuine, but I also think a big part of them not addressing it more than they did is you just can’t fix everything in one offseason. They prioritized their needs and figured of all the groups that need to improve, the offensive line had the best chance of doing so without maximum upheaval. It’s kind of like splitting 8s against a face card in blackjack. This could pay off for them big time, or it could be a disaster.

With Cincinnati enjoying Burrowmania, what was the most recent No. 1 pick of the same magnitude (clear and obvious pick with high expectations) and what was the atmosphere like in that city both pre- and post-draft? — Kevin K.

This one is a little hard to answer having not lived in those other cities. Jadeveon Clowney was probably the most recent one on par with Burrow in terms of being the obvious choice, but the vibe generated by an edge rusher pales to that of a quarterback. I’m going to say Andrew Luck in 2012 is the one that best meets your criteria. He was a clear and obvious top pick who was viewed as a franchise savior after the Peyton Manning era ended.

Curious from a football knowledge stance – in a truly hypothetical situation that there was no 2020 season what would they do with the 2021 draft order? Same order as 2020 (prior to trades), lottery?

— Mark Young (@Youngmay0131) May 27, 2020

I honestly don’t know the answer to this, Mark. I reached out to the league and got no response. I do not think there is anything in the rules about what the contingency would be, so a solution would have to be voted on. My guess is the league would do it similar to the supplemental draft, where it separates the teams into tiers based on previous draft position and then does a random draw for positioning within each tier.

Let’s hope none of this matters in a few months.

Jay who is your favorite Twitter follower? What’s your favorite Judas Priest/Iron Madien album?

— Maan Aboulhosn (@MaanAboulhosn) May 26, 2020

You mean other than @TheAthletic, right? It’s funny you should mention this because we recently published a list of the 50 best Twitter accounts to follow. As for my personal favorite, I love @Ol_timefootball. I’m a sucker for nostalgia and the old-time clips are so much fun to watch, whether it be reliving the brilliance of some of the players I followed as a kid or seeing some even older ones for the first time. Also in the nostalgia thread, I love @MLBcathedrals, which publishes photos of old stadiums.

As for the music, I’ve never been a huge Priest fan. Never owned a single album. One of my best friends had a 1967 Chevy Nova when we were in high school. He nicknamed it The Ripper, so I did come to love that Judas Priest song. On the Iron Maiden front, give me “The Number of the Beast” with “Piece of Mind” a close second.

What are the expectations within the organization for the offense this upcoming season? Do they truly believe in/plan to rely on a rookie quarterback with unproven/injured/high-potential targets, or do they plan on leaning on a (maybe top-5) running back who is supported by a less than stellar offensive line? — Luke M.

Yes, they believe in and plan to rely on Joe Burrow, but this is not an either/or proposition. Joe Mixon will have a key role as well. And, I predict, a big year.

Hey Jay, do you think they add a veteran quarterback to groom Burrow or do they stay put? — Scott W.

Taylor has made it clear they are set at quarterback. The only way they sign a veteran is in the worst-case scenario of an injury.

Out of all the presumed starters, is there one you can see being surprisingly good/bad this year and out/underperform expectations — Eli B.

On the outperform card, give me Jessie Bates. He’s played really well without great help around him in his first two seasons. He’s got the makeup of a leader and should really embrace that in Year 3. If all of the new pieces fall into place and this defense takes a major step forward, Bates could have a special season.

As far as underperforming goes, I’ll say Carlos Dunlap. He got off to a really poor start last year before going on a tear in the second half. He’s 31, and flipping that switch is only going to get harder each year. Which Dunlap will come out of the gate in 2020? If it’s the 2019 version, he might not be able to bounce back in a similar fashion.

Why not name Duke Tobin as general manager of the Cincinnati Bengals? — John C.

What would be the point? It wouldn’t change anything. Tobin is the general manager despite his official title of director of player personnel. Changing his title would indicate some sort of change in the way they operate, and that would not be the case.

What are the records of teams the season after they had two wins or fewer? — Brian B.

In the 10-span from 2009-2018, there were 13 teams that won two or fewer games. The best turnarounds were the 2012 Colts and 2013 Chiefs, both of whom went 11-5 the year after going 2-14. On the opposite side, the 2017 Browns went 0-16 after going 1-15 in 2016, although that almost deserves an asterisk as they were clearly tanking.

Of the 13 teams that won two or fewer games, the average win total the following year was 6.4. Take the 2017 Browns out of the mix, and it jumps to 6.9.

What in the world has happened to Billy Price? Is it health-related as he has fought through injuries in each of his seasons or is it talent? This is a first-round pick that can’t break the starting lineup on one of the worst offensive lines in the league. To me, this guy is more frustrating than John Ross even though Ross gets more noise. — Todd M.

An injury cost him six games in the middle of his rookie year, but he returned to reclaim the starting job. Another injury last offseason created a crack for Trey Hopkins to win the starting center job, which he did, and then played well enough to keep it all year and earn a three-year contract extension. That forced Price to play guard. It’s the position he played to start his career at Ohio State, but he’s not built to be a starting guard in the NFL. He has value as someone who can back up three interior positions, but you’re right, this isn’t what anyone envisioned when the Bengals made him a first-round pick in 2018.

With fan morale being high from free agency and the drafting of Joe Burrow, do scribes believe in the hype around the team turning into positive results on the field? — Chris B.

I don’t want to speak for all of us, but I personally think the optimism is warranted if mixed with a little patience. If you’re thinking playoffs or bust in 2020, you’re going to get stung. The window opens in 2021.

(Photo of Zac Taylor: Nick Cammett / Diamond Images via Getty Images)