Where's DennyG

[Burma]

(12-31-2016, 03:37 PM)BengalChris Wrote: Yeah, except being stupid in free agency doesn't work and if anything, Mikey Brown has proven that conclusively.

There are many ways to be stupid with free agency:

1. Over paying with big contracts not warranted by the player's existing accomplishments.
2. Ignore system differences where the incoming player doesn't really fit the system but played well in another system.
3. Signing injured players.
4. Letting better players go while keeping lessor talent because they are cheaper to sign. (Salary cap is certainly a constraint here)
5. Ignoring free agency.
6. Low balling own free agents.
7. Signing me first headcases.

Doing free agency right would be more like this: Signing healthy, good players who fit the current system at the going rate who are team players.

Not very complicated really. Coaches have access to a ton of tape on NFL players, more than they have of guys coming out of college and you know the talent level they've played against. I really don't see why free agency isn't considered a more reliable tool for teams than the draft.

Dansby is a great example of #2. (Not that #2, you delinquents).  Dansby comes to the Bengals in what looks like a solid move that utilizes his coverage skills to bolster a team deficiency.  Once here he seemingly is incapable of performing a skill that he was known for throughout his career.  This isn't a Dansby issue, it's a system fit issue.  What ever the Bengals are asking their coverage LB to do seems to be flawed.  Given the string of failures which the players put into that role have had you would think that the team would reassess either their scheme or the type of players required to excell in the scheme.
 
Instead what will most likely happen is Hobspin will trot out the Dansby signing as proof of why the Bengals are right in not spending money in free agency. It's such a pathetic cycle of self affirmation from a group that can admit no wrong.  

I see the same thing every day in the faces of self-deluding people unwilling to accept they are at fault. "Well, I would have done "X" but management does "Y", so why should I even bother?" Their failures to succeed in life are always the result of "they" doing something to hold that person back. It's never about the person who failed. Sadly they will live their whole lives with that mindset and never achieve up to their potential, a life wasted in not accepting responsibility and overcoming self made obstacles. The Bengals do this, and they need therapy, not affirmation or fans.