09-03-2019, 02:34 PM
(09-03-2019, 12:52 PM)ochocincos Wrote: The issue the Bengals keep running into is that they keep trying to get players at a value.
Players who were once good but maybe had a bad year or two, had an injury, etc.
It worked a few years back, mainly under Zimmer and mainly in the secondary - Reggie Nelson, Terence Newman, Pacman Jones, even Burfict to an extent. Not so many examples on the other side of the ball - other than Mixon maybe Cedric Benson (RIP) was the last one on Offense?
But it seems to have been a long while since we bought low on a former 1st round pick. And whilst draft position isn't the be all end all, the talent we've been signing has gradually been dropping in draft pedigree. This this year's free agents - Miller, Jerry were 3rd rounds and Webb 4th round. Last year's was Preston Brown 3rd round and Matt Barkley 4th round. Year before Minter (2nd round); in 2016 it was Dansby (2nd round) and LaFell (3rd round) and you have to go back all the way to 2015 for AJ Hawk for a former 1st rounder. That 2010-2015 when we made the play-offs 5 years in a row we signed a whole slew of former first rounders - the aforementioned Nelson and Pacman Jones (2010), Nate Clements and Kelly Jennings (2011), Newman, Jason Allen, Jamaal Anderson and Manny Lawson (2012) plus in 2011 former 2nd rounders Thomas Howard and Taylor Mays. Not all of them were good or even made it in the end but it put talent on the roster in training camp for a good co-ordinator to make the most of.
Maybe the issue is less that they've been trying to get players at value but as Tobin's influence has grown they've moved away from such types of reclamation projects and just don't have the high end talent? Maybe they need to go back to buying low?
