The Bengals did it right at OT

[BengalChris]

(09-17-2017, 11:23 AM)bfine32 Wrote: Obviously a lot of talk about the oline and everyone can see it is a work in progress. However, the one constant comment I see that doesn't seem to be based on reality is that the Bengals didn't "address" the oline.

In 2015 we realized that Whit was getting a little long in the tooth and Andre Smith was on the final year of his contract. So we draft 2 OTs in each of the first 2 rounds of the draft. Despite the amateur experts in this forum both were considered high draft choices and great prospects. Both were All Americans their final year (Walter Camp/Football writers).

The plan was perfect. Give Ced a "red shirt" year to heal while we didn't need him and let Jake get experience all along the oline. Andre leaves in 2016 and Ced is ready to get his feet wet at RT. He's not ready and gets benched. Understanding that their top prospect may not be ready for primetime they offer a 35 year old Whit a lucrative 1 year deal; unfortunately, LA was willing to employ him until he was 38. The Bengals could not wait that long to try and get return on their investments.

Will Ced and Jake work out? Who knows. But sometimes you have to crack a couple eggs to make an omelet.

Wow, that's an interesting take on the mess that is our oline.

I do agree that the team taking two OTs in the 2015 draft was not a complete and total surprise, but the team really failed in 2016 to recognize that the two OTs they did select may very well not pan out.

The team did NOTHING in the off-season to account for the possibility that Og or Fisher or both may just be no better than they were last year. Bringing back Andre Smith, who clearly has little left, was just a cheap option for Mike Brown.

Giving up 5 sacks to the Ravens is abysmal. Eight sacks given up in 2 games is awful bad and makes this look like a long ugly season ahead.

It really doesn't matter how old Whit is, he's better than another player we have along the OL and to point to his age as a reason to accept subpar young guys is rather idiotic. Of course, "idiotic" and "Mike Brown" are pretty much synonyms.

Why is Alexander still a coach on this team?