Burrow/Young

[CJD]

Here's the thing:

This team is not as bad as its record. They rightfully shouldn't be at the top of the draft with the talent they have.

6 of their 11 losses were by a touchdown or less. If Dalton played the last two weeks (Oakland and Pittsburgh) they almost certainly win those games.

And next year they will be playing a last place schedule which means they'll play the Dolphins and Chargers/Broncos (as well as the entire AFC South, which includes the Jaguars).

Next year the Bengals will also be playing the NFC East. That division currently doesn't have a team above .500. The Redskins, Giants and Eagles are all weak, beatable teams. And Dallas doesn't look that much better either.

They'll also be in their second year with this coaching staff (unless they fire some people, but if they finish strong this season I don't see that happening) with AJ Green likely coming back (if he doesn't then that just means they were idiots for not trading him) and Jonah Williams coming back to further stabilize the Oline. Not to mention another year of draft picks that will hopefully contribute at least somewhat more than the veterans they replace.


Why am I saying all this? Because the odds of the Bengals having a top pick next year are relatively low. They have, at the bare minimum, 5 to 6 very very winnable games on the schedule next year and that's if they don't improve at all from this year to next. This team has been competitive in the majority of its losses and would have more wins if we didn't try the Finley experiment in the middle there (not that I'm complaining).

So, as a franchise, when you have the opportunity to draft the QB of the future in a lost year where everything went wrong under a rookie head coach with a 32 year old starting QB on the last year of his contract (going into 2020) who has never been elite...YOU TAKE IT.

Stop over evaluating this and looking to the 2021 draft for the potential QB solution, especially when the odds are they won't be nearly this bad in 2020. They have one staring them in the face right now (unless they foolishly win 3 games in the final 5 weeks). Don't look a gift horse in the mouth and don't talk yourself out of the future of your franchise. This is their shot to change this franchise for the next decade. Being at the top of the draft is very rare, after all (2020 will only be their 3rd top 5 pick in the last 19 years).