Why didnt the Bengals draft Lamar Jackson ?

[George Cantstandya]

(11-15-2019, 04:32 PM)impactplaya Wrote: For those of you bringing up the "31 teams passed on him" argument . It doesnt hold water.
Not every NFL team Needs a QB in the upperhalf
Of the draft.
I don't care about 31 teams other needs.
The point is the Bengals front office didn't have the
Foresight to draft LJ.
LJ is small sample size on how poorly run the Bengals
Scouting and elevation process is.

Several teams during the 2018 draft were in need of a QB and they all passed on him.  As a reminder The Browns, Jets, Bills and Cardinals all drafted a QB in the first round and ahead of him. All of those picks are playing well below the same level Jackson is.  Heck the Cardinals passed on him with the 10th pick, drafted Rosen, and ended drafting another QB with the first overall pick in 2019.   It's easy to look back after the fact and ask, "Why didn't all those teams draft him?"  Apparently they didn't have the foresight to do so either. 

I get it, he's is playing lights out right now and is in consideration for MVP.  But the Bengals were not the only ones that didn't predict how well he would play. Heck when he stepped in for Flacco last year people were still criticizing him and his 58.2 completion percent by the end of the season.  Why were you not asking the same thing at the end of the 2018 season after he had started 7 games or even the beginning of this season instead of waiting more than half a season in?   So the argument that the Bengals were lacking foresight for not drafting him is a bit off.  The draft is full of could of should of would of and the Bengals are not alone in that. 

I won't argue the Bengals have been bad at drafting over the last several years though.  But given glaring needs on the o-line in 2018 (and continuing) I can't argue with them trying to address that. I think that was the consensus not only among fans but the NFL media "experts" as a whole. Even though it appears Price may have been yet another bad pick at this point.

Finally, I'll throw you a bone. It seems Mike Mayock was on with his 2018 mock draft as he had the Ravens picking Jackson with the 16th pick but after Darnold, Mayfield, Allen and Rosen dated April 25 2018:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000928583/article/mike-mayocks-2018-nfl-mock-draft-bills-trade-up-for-josh-allen

As we know now the Ravens traded down then back up to snag him with the 32nd pick. I was critical of that myself but it seems they made out fairly well at this point.