03-29-2017, 11:22 PM
(03-29-2017, 11:06 PM)Whatever Wrote: There's a couple of reasons why I'd like a 1st round WR.
First, we were 24th in scoring offense last year. We need to score more points to win more games, plain and simple. To emphasize this even further, we were 26th in passing TD's. We had only 6 players who caught a TD pass, and only three that caught more than one TD pass. We need receivers who can put points on the board desperately. By comparison, we were tied for 19th in sacks and everybody says a pass rushing DE is a need. You can point at young WR's that didn't produce TD's last year stepping up, but at DE, we have Will Clarke who had 4 sacks in very little playing time last year. You can also make the case that with a new starting NT in Billings who can hopefully actually draw double teams, the other guys will have an easier time getting to the QB.
Second, we've seen this offense fall flat on it's face for years whenever Green is out. We've also seen good teams put Green on lockdown with double and triple teams, and our other guys being unable to win consistently against man coverage, especially in the playoffs. In several of our recent playoff losses, the D played well enough to win. The offense struggled, because everyone knows if you shut down AJ, you shut down the Bengals. You aren't going to win many playoff games only scoring 17 points, no matter how good your D is.
I'm not saying DE isn't an area of need, and I have no issue with Garrett, Allen, or Thomas if they fall to us. However, reaching for Barnett, Charlton, or McDowell would be a huge mistake. There are a lot of good pass rushers like Willis, Harris, Walker, and Williams who will likely be available at 41. There aren't a lot of instant impact WR's at that spot.
You give a lot of good reasons for not only taking a WR, but actually getting a threat at RB so we aren't so dependent on the passing game. If you get a guy that teams have to account for running the ball, there's going to be a lot of openings for the WRs and TEs.
