Do the Bengals Finally Have Their Defensive Coordinator?

[NUGDUKWE]

(09-27-2021, 09:33 PM)samhain Wrote: IDK about all that.  He's done his job in getting his guys in there by his third year, and he's done wonders drafting linebackers, if he's the one making that decision.  

My only question about Lou is whether or not he can develop young talent to build a defense (outside of linebacker, of course).  His two premier DTs were free agents and one of them was incredibly expensive.  His top DE was another very expensive outside free agent.  His corners, if healthy are  also both outside guys that the team gave big money, as is his nickel corner.  His strong safety is another guy that came from another team as a relatively finished product, albeit being less expensive.  

I've never seen this team give a coordinator the kind of leeway they gave Lou in terms of stockpiling expensive outside free agents to build a defense.  This comes right after Marvin having to dumpster dive for criminals and first round busts for almost 2 decades, with the exception of the semi-annual washed up strong side linebacker veteran.  Most coordinators would kill for the kind of haul Lou got and I'd venture that most would do reasonably well with the players they got to hand pick as proven NFL commodities to fit their system.  

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad they did it.  it was the right thing to do if the team was determined to spend all early round picks on offense for 3 years, which they have.  I'm just not sure that other organizations are going to look at Lou and think he's the one to build a team when his best example of success comes after 2 years of loading up on high-end pre-developed talent.  

Yeah I think your right. We spent 2 years of very bad defense. I thought it was laughable when people were saying during free agency that Lou was getting his guys and now we would succeed. I've admitted I was wrong and giving Lou a lot of credit but maybe the front office really deserves some major credit for getting the bulk of this group together. Also good point on Marvin's year's that we very rarely spent in free agency.