D-Line

[*ochocincos*]

(04-14-2021, 06:23 PM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: It's a long wait until the draft. I'm excited about our draft position. We'll end up with a great player in round 1 for sure (round 2 as well most likely).

Yeah, I'd be happy if we drafted Chase in the 1st. But keep in mind, it puts more pressure to get oline and dline help the rest of the way. We have 2 really good receivers, and the depth behind them is good in terms of the amount of experience out there. Yes, if Boyd or Higgins got hurt, we would be in a bit of trouble. But a good QB and offensive line can make up for that. My main concern is the trenches. It's where we've struggled the most the past several years. It would be fun to have another weapon though.

A lot of people point to our wide receivers in regards to the lack of success with the deep ball. I think the offensive line is more to blame. Can't throw the ball deep if we only have a couple seconds to throw it to avoid a sack. Same goes for the defensive side. It's easy for opposing QB's to pick us apart if they have all day to throw. These two areas are extremely important in regards to winning football (blocking and pass rush/penetration).

And that's what happens when you don't properly address all your needs in FA.
It will likely leave you with gaps after the draft and/or force you into drafting for need.

As I said in another thread, a "solid" draft only yields 2 starters and probably one other decent contributor.
You also shouldn't typically expect any reasonable contribution from a Day 3 draft pick as a rookie except for ST.
So if you go OL and DL with the first two picks, you may have to be willing to accept that a pass catcher you take may only contribute a few hundred yards and a TD or two as a rookie.

I would have been more willing to accept that for the Bengals if they had gone out and signed a cheaper FA like Reynolds, Watkins, or Conley to be WR3 to give a drafted pass catcher more time to develop.

I think the Bengals can afford to draft a Rd 2 or 3 OT guy because they can put him at OG for a year before potentially moving him into the RT spot.
Or, if they draft two OL between Rds 2-4, it would allow one to start at OG while the other serves as the swing OT.