Chase Young or Joe Burrow ?

[Au165]

(11-27-2019, 11:11 AM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: Exactly, '74. 

When was the last time the Bengals drafted a dominant defensive player?  Vontaze Burfict was undrafted, remember?  Rey Maualuga was drafted in 2009 and while he wasn't the second coming of Ray Lewis, he was solid especially against the run.  When was Leon Hall drafted? What about Johnathan Joseph?  Maybe the last good defensive draftee was George Iloka in 2012.  I certainly liked the selections of Darqueze Dennard and William Jackson III but they turned out to be, well, let's be charitable, less than advertised.

I hope Lou Anarumo has the cojones to get to Zac Taylor and the Front Office and advocates for building a great defense.  Mike Zimmer demanded it!  It's not a coincidence that the Bengals went to the playoffs six times between 2009 and 2015 when the defense was given its just due in the draft and, yes, by signing free agents like Roy Williams, Terence Newman, Reggie Nelson, and Thomas Howard.

Iloka and Nelson are free agents and probably better than what we have now.

Nelson was traded for not an FA. The others you name were discount bargain bin type guys. The reality is Mike Zimmer is one of the best defensive coordinators in football, that helps make average guys good.

No, these guys are bad but they have organizational familiarity which makes them the kind of FA we would sign...then ***** about when they suck.