10-26-2017, 11:04 AM
Sent the below to Hobson, figured I'd share it here since he's unlikely to answer ...
Hi Geoff, I’m an avid reader of your Hobson’s Choice articles. Like many Bengals fans, I’m extremely frustrated by the general incompetence of our OL this year, particularly when their various issues were almost unanimously predicted by pundits and fans alike prior to the start of the season (but seemingly were ignored by the team). Our OL simply cannot buy enough time to allow our skill players to generate any offense whatsoever, and I wholly agree that they were “so outplayed” by the Steelers’ OL last week. My question to you is – What do you think is the root cause of our OL woes? Is it poor coaching? As you noted, we start four players drafted in the fourth round or higher, so the talent should be there. Or is the problem with our evaluation of OL talent? Maybe the players we drafted high just aren’t that good (recall that we drafted Zeitler over All Pro DeCastro). Is it the widely-regarded belief that we don’t spend enough money on the OL, and specifically on the interior positions? Our OL has a cap hit of $17 mil.; Steelers pay $40 mil. for theirs, including $11 mil. apiece on C and OG. Maybe the problem is our philosophy of not valuing the interior OL positions? It’s well-documented that we put a premium on OTs, don’t draft centers high, and refuse to pay OGs (letting Zeitler, our best OL, go to division rival Browns). In contrast, the Steelers, e.g., drafted C Pouncey (5-time pro bowler, 2-time all pro) and OG DeCastro (all pro/pro bowl) in the first round AND paid them $11 mil./yr to stay with the team. Those two players are the lynchpins of the line and the primary reason for Bell’s success at RB. Is it all of the above? Maybe something else? At this point, I don’t think we can say they just need to “gel” … It’s actually starting to remind me (God forbid) of the Bengals teams from the late 90’s, when our OL was trash (apart from Big Willie and Richie B.) but we’re drafting skill players like Akili and Warrick instead of addressing the line. Thanks for letting me vent. Frustrated Bengals fan in Philly.
Hi Geoff, I’m an avid reader of your Hobson’s Choice articles. Like many Bengals fans, I’m extremely frustrated by the general incompetence of our OL this year, particularly when their various issues were almost unanimously predicted by pundits and fans alike prior to the start of the season (but seemingly were ignored by the team). Our OL simply cannot buy enough time to allow our skill players to generate any offense whatsoever, and I wholly agree that they were “so outplayed” by the Steelers’ OL last week. My question to you is – What do you think is the root cause of our OL woes? Is it poor coaching? As you noted, we start four players drafted in the fourth round or higher, so the talent should be there. Or is the problem with our evaluation of OL talent? Maybe the players we drafted high just aren’t that good (recall that we drafted Zeitler over All Pro DeCastro). Is it the widely-regarded belief that we don’t spend enough money on the OL, and specifically on the interior positions? Our OL has a cap hit of $17 mil.; Steelers pay $40 mil. for theirs, including $11 mil. apiece on C and OG. Maybe the problem is our philosophy of not valuing the interior OL positions? It’s well-documented that we put a premium on OTs, don’t draft centers high, and refuse to pay OGs (letting Zeitler, our best OL, go to division rival Browns). In contrast, the Steelers, e.g., drafted C Pouncey (5-time pro bowler, 2-time all pro) and OG DeCastro (all pro/pro bowl) in the first round AND paid them $11 mil./yr to stay with the team. Those two players are the lynchpins of the line and the primary reason for Bell’s success at RB. Is it all of the above? Maybe something else? At this point, I don’t think we can say they just need to “gel” … It’s actually starting to remind me (God forbid) of the Bengals teams from the late 90’s, when our OL was trash (apart from Big Willie and Richie B.) but we’re drafting skill players like Akili and Warrick instead of addressing the line. Thanks for letting me vent. Frustrated Bengals fan in Philly.
