LeCharles Bentley

by dkugler838 on Jun 11, 2008 9:00 PM CDT

http://blog.cleveland.com/sports/2008/06/lecharles_bentley_asks_for_rec.html

Bentley has been out the past two years so he IS injury prone. However he was an amazing pro bowl center for New Orleans and got a big money deal with Cleveland. He's only 28 years old so if he works out it would fit our line pretty well. Plus he just passed his physical to play this year.

With Center being a pretty big need should we take a waiver on LeCharles? Anyone hear anything about other teams interested?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.

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Meh

Id rather stick with Niswanger than bring in another injury prone guy thats been out of the league for years. Kyle Turley was a 1st round pick and a good tackle before his injuries and we saw how that turned out.

We dont need to grasp after every injury prone guy trying to come back or every thug coming off a suspension. Lets see what Niswanger can do. He might be better.

by ChiefDJ on Jun 11, 2008 9:13 PM CDT 0 recs

The only BIG difference I see

between Bentley and Turley is that Kyle lost a ton of weight. Bentley did well in his physicals and his injury has been recovered from what we can see. Turley’s issue was the foundation of his frame (back) which was so f-ed up that he came in originally as a Tight End! I think we should take a look at Bentley and have Niswanger develop under him.

by dkugler838 on Jun 12, 2008 9:18 AM CDT up 0 recs

Turley passed his physicals too

Not saying we shouldnt go after the guy. I looked at his history and hes been in several pro bowls, so he must have some talent. Im just saying the guy just got off a serious injury and has been out of football for two years. We have no clue if he will even be a shadow of his former self. In the meantime, we have Niswanger who could turn out to be a really good Center himself.

Why take a chance on the unknown (and risk the gelling of the line if the guy goes down again?) when you can just stick with the guy you already have?

by ChiefDJ on Jun 12, 2008 5:30 PM CDT up 0 recs

Agreed completely

Just wanted to see if there were that many positive things to say about Niswanger. I just think Center will be key for this line to start gelling.

by dkugler838 on Jun 11, 2008 9:17 PM CDT 0 recs

I think we should take a chance

I like Niswanger at center so I think we should bring him in to be our starting right guard… even Herm said that it was one of the question mark positions. this would solidify our starting line and they say he was pretty impressive in his physicals and he has had 2 years to recover from that injury. that would give us a solid front five

by akc on Jun 11, 2008 9:43 PM CDT 0 recs

Bentley is back

I think he will be very good. I wouldn’t mind if we took a look at him, but like dkugler and DJ, Niswanger is probably the better solution.

by primetime 07 on Jun 11, 2008 9:54 PM CDT 0 recs

YES

the second i saw this story on espn’s ticker at the bottom, i thought this was our guy. young, talented. the injury thing? well, let’s hope it’s not a curse. this guy played very well a couple years ago. let’s hope we can get a productive player relatively cheap here.

Never giving up on your team is what makes you a good fan.

by kcisbetterthanstlateverything on Jun 12, 2008 2:20 AM CDT 0 recs

One injury

was a staph infection. But the other was patellar tendon.

by primetime 07 on Jun 12, 2008 6:09 AM CDT up 0 recs

Centers need to be the smartest person on the line

They call out assignments and pull for running backs. When centers get eaten alive by monster nose tackles the whole oline suffers. I don’t like Niswanger just because he’s never started. If we could get Bentley and start him, we could verse him with Niswanger and see who works out better.

by mchief on Jun 12, 2008 12:04 PM CDT 0 recs

right guard

that is our weakest position on the line right now and Bentley has already said he would rather play guard and it would take him more time to learn center, niswanger already knows… right guard is the best fit

by akc on Jun 12, 2008 1:23 PM CDT 0 recs

Money

I wonder what he’s expecting as far as a contract goes? With his recent history we may be able to get him at a bargain price so the upside would be magnified.

I agree with akc, I think he would be a great fill at RG. I’ll be surprised if we make the move though.

by Ochophosphate on Jun 12, 2008 8:11 PM CDT 0 recs

Think about this

Bentley received $16.6 million from the Browns despite never playing a down for them.

Although I’ve heard conflicting sides on this, but he wasn’t at the stadium very much, kinda did his own thing….the split was very amicable, the Browns dumped him right when he passed a physical so that there wouldn’t be any injury-settlement money involved.

by primetime 07 on Jun 13, 2008 7:08 AM CDT 0 recs

i dont know, guys

i picked up bentley in free agency in madden ‘06, and he ended up being like a 99. i’d take a flyer

MISSOURI: sucking at basketball doesn't make you a football school

by The DBowe Show on Jun 13, 2008 12:40 PM CDT 0 recs

good call

Im with you on that one. I love using madden as a guideline for players. However, only guideline, as they do have the tendency to rate players like reggie bush 87 in there rookie year…

by Ben S on Jun 13, 2008 10:15 PM CDT up 0 recs

Strangely

Over the years a lot of players I’ve picked up in my Madden franchises have ended up being strong in the NFL. I always got the college rosters updated with real names and drafted from my NCAA football games into Madden. At times I had fellas on my roster like Darrent Williams, Greg Jennings, Dwayne Bowe, Jake Long. When I was playing Madden, I didn’t know who these guys were… at the time they were underclassmen in the NCAA games so they were somewhat unknown to me. It’s cool to see a simulation produce results not too far from real life, especially when it occurs over many simulated seasons.

by Ochophosphate on Jun 14, 2008 12:41 AM CDT up 0 recs

Correction

Jake Long hasn’t proven he’s strong in the NFL yet…. but his name popped in my head anyway.

by Ochophosphate on Jun 14, 2008 12:42 AM CDT up 0 recs

We should definitely

look at him. This line IS in need.

by Ilamuku on Jun 13, 2008 9:29 PM CDT 0 recs

I Think Bentley's Worth The Risk

This would be a classic high-upside, low-downside move bringing him in. He’s been rehabbing for the last two years and staying in shape, so it’s not like he’s coming off the couch after two years completely out of football. He’s 28 so he fits into the rebuilding mode. If he comes back and he’s fully healthy we get a high-level performer at center, if not Niswanger gets the spot. If he comes back and he’s good enough to start but he’s not exactly a Pro Bowl-level performer, we could look at dealing him. And we’re probably going to be able to get him really cheap as well.

Patellar tendon’s usually the toughest injury to come back from, but it’s not impossible to do so and be an effective player. Steve Emtman came back from it and was capable enough to stick around the league for a few more years. No reason LeBentley Charles can’t if he’s been working as hard as it seems he has.

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Jun 15, 2008 11:07 AM CDT 0 recs

Haven't heard good things about him

Although I don’t know what’s standard for someone getting paid $16.6 million from a team he never played a down for. Tough situation for both sides.

by primetime 07 on Jun 15, 2008 7:15 PM CDT up 0 recs

I remember

Him being big shiz coming out of New Orleans in free agency. The Browns were looking for him to anchor their line for a long time. He’s supposed to be very smart, he was a two-time Pro Bowler.

Blew his patellar tendon on the very first play in pads. Surgery went well but he got a staph infection that required three more surgeries, and nearly died. He seems to be a good character guy. The article by the AP had this quote:

“I’m still a fan, I’m still a Cleveland guy, and I’m glad to see the Browns do well,” Bentley said a day before his release. “They have got so many stars now. I’m excited about that from a fan’s perspective. I’m always going to be a Cleveland Browns die-hard fan no matter what. Whatever happens, I’m glad to see the team do well.”

It was really just bad luck for the most part. The only thing I would worry about is that he hasn’t played a game in over two years. He passed his physical, but it’s still going to take him a while to get in to “game shape”.

If we can get him fairly cheap, I think he’s worth the risk too. If anything he could (as akc mentioned above) play RG instead of Center… as he would prefer to anyway. I would much rather have LeCharles Bentley playing RG than any of the other options.

I think this looks nice – Albert, Waters, Niswanger, Bentley, McIntosh

by Ochophosphate on Jun 15, 2008 8:23 PM CDT up 0 recs

Yeah, He Wasn't A Problem Child, Just Unlucky

And I think there’s something to be said for a guy who rehabs himself from a career-threatening injury and life-threatening illness to get to the point where he’s capable of playing again. At the least he’s worth a tryout to see what he’s got left in the tank. Can’t hurt.

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Jun 22, 2008 8:48 PM CDT up 0 recs

Maybe

He might not be a bad pick up for the guard position. The Vikings are the only team that has shown interest in Bentley. That really isn’t saying much. They have shown interest in everyone available.

by cmpotter on Jun 26, 2008 10:13 AM CDT 0 recs