Why Having the First Pick Doesn't Matter for the Bengals

[Fan_in_Kettering]

With respect to the Cincinnati Bengals I'm usually very upbeat and optimistic so it's unusual for me to take such a Scrooge-like "BAH! HUMBUG!" approach to having the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.  Nornally I would be very excited like I was in 2003 but 17 years later I'm not so pumped.

Here's why:

I don't trust the Front Office nor do I believe in the coaches.  I think they'll blow the draft and think they won the lottery.  Jonah Williams turned out to be more than "dinged," Ryan Finley, well, that's a bust, Drew Sample was horrible -- and fragile too -- and only Germaine Pratt showed any positive progress among the rookies.  After the draft we heard things from Zac Taylor about "accountability" but the 1-14 record indicates a lack of accountability.  Players on offense are trying to apply incorrect technique to a bad scheme and players on defense get burned on the same pass plays every game so I'm sick of the false promises from the coaches.  They could ruin anybody.

So, therefore, the Bengals can pick first, fifth, eighteenth, or whatever.  No elite player can overcome bad coaching or a bad scheme.