11-15-2019, 12:19 PM
First, as mentioned above, LJax was the 32nd pick of the first round, which means that every other team passed on him as well. Four teams even passed on him for other QBs (Mayfield, Darnold, Allen, and Rosen were all picked before him). Even the Ravens passed on him -- THREE TIMES -- before finally grabbing him at the bottom of the first (traded out of 1-16 and 1-22 and took Hurst at 1-25). So I think it's safe to say that no one, not even the Ravens, thought he was going to be this good.
Second, it's way too early to crown him the next Brady. He's only played in 25 games. No superbowls, no pro bowls, one playoff game (a loss -- he sucked, BTW). Prior to this season he was decidedly mediocre. His success this season -- which I'm all for because he's my fantasy QB and the Bengals are out of it anyway -- has largely been the product of a gimmicky offense that NFL defenses will most likely figure out next year. He still has many flaws; they're just minimized in this specific scheme.
If you were a "win-now" team, would you really take him over Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes, Wilson, or Brees? If you were building for the future, would you take him over Rodgers, Wilson, or Mahomes? What about Watson, Wentz, or Prescott? Maybe, maybe not. But there are many examples of a running QB having success for a season or two then crashing back to earth due to injuries, declining skill, or simply being too one-dimensional (see RGIII, Vince Young, Tim Tebow, Terrell Pryor, Mitch Trubisky last year, Baker Mayfield last year). Even those who enjoyed sustained success experienced a general decline in production as the years progressed (see Randall Cunningham, Mike Vick, Cam Newton). Desean Watson, who I think is better than Jackson, could easily fall into this latter category. Only those guys who learned how to do other things well were able to have more successful careers (Wilson, McNabb, maybe Mahomes).
Lamar could become a legend, or he could be injured and out of the league in two years. Price could (somehow) become a solid starter on our line for the next 10 years. It's just way too early to tell. I remember several threads going around in 2012-13 arguing that we were stupid for taking Dalton over Kaepernick. Seven years later, turns out they were only partially right -- there were better players available at 35, but it wasn't Kaep. How much would help would Justin Houston have been to our team? Or KJ Wright? Jurrell Casey? Jason Kelce? Rodney Hudson? Or Richard Freaking Sherman? Bottom line, there are a lot of other, legit reasons to criticize the Bengals, but this ain't it.
Second, it's way too early to crown him the next Brady. He's only played in 25 games. No superbowls, no pro bowls, one playoff game (a loss -- he sucked, BTW). Prior to this season he was decidedly mediocre. His success this season -- which I'm all for because he's my fantasy QB and the Bengals are out of it anyway -- has largely been the product of a gimmicky offense that NFL defenses will most likely figure out next year. He still has many flaws; they're just minimized in this specific scheme.
If you were a "win-now" team, would you really take him over Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes, Wilson, or Brees? If you were building for the future, would you take him over Rodgers, Wilson, or Mahomes? What about Watson, Wentz, or Prescott? Maybe, maybe not. But there are many examples of a running QB having success for a season or two then crashing back to earth due to injuries, declining skill, or simply being too one-dimensional (see RGIII, Vince Young, Tim Tebow, Terrell Pryor, Mitch Trubisky last year, Baker Mayfield last year). Even those who enjoyed sustained success experienced a general decline in production as the years progressed (see Randall Cunningham, Mike Vick, Cam Newton). Desean Watson, who I think is better than Jackson, could easily fall into this latter category. Only those guys who learned how to do other things well were able to have more successful careers (Wilson, McNabb, maybe Mahomes).
Lamar could become a legend, or he could be injured and out of the league in two years. Price could (somehow) become a solid starter on our line for the next 10 years. It's just way too early to tell. I remember several threads going around in 2012-13 arguing that we were stupid for taking Dalton over Kaepernick. Seven years later, turns out they were only partially right -- there were better players available at 35, but it wasn't Kaep. How much would help would Justin Houston have been to our team? Or KJ Wright? Jurrell Casey? Jason Kelce? Rodney Hudson? Or Richard Freaking Sherman? Bottom line, there are a lot of other, legit reasons to criticize the Bengals, but this ain't it.
