The Hype and Reality

[*ochocincos*]

(03-10-2020, 01:25 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Here are some guys who claim you are wrong.

Jesse Bates
Sam Hubbard
Carl Lawson
Joe Mixon
Tyler Boyd
Jeremy Hill
Russell Bodine
Ttyler Eifert
Giovanni Bernard
Kevin Zeitler
Andy Dalton
A J Green
Jermain Gresham
Carlos Dunlap
Jordan Shipley
Rey Maualuga

Wait, what was I wrong about?

The following had a veteran in front of them when they were drafted:
Gresham (Reggie Kelly)
Eifert (Gresham)
Hill (Bernard)
Bernard (BJGE)
Green (Chad, Simpson)
Mixon (Hill, Bernard)
Hubbard (MJ)
Lawson (MJ)
Dunlap (Geathers)
Bates (Iloka)
Shipley (Chad, TO, Caldwell)
Bodine (Cook)
Boyd (Green, LaFell)

Yes, Iloka, Chad, and Cook were cut/traded before the season started, thereby putting Bates, Green, and Bodine into starting roles by Week 1 of the season, but they were not the top player at their position on the roster when drafted. And most of the guys you mentioned did not start many games their rookie years. It took them a year or two before getting into full-time starter role.

The only players who were slotted into starting roles upon being drafted were:
Dalton (Palmer refusal to play)
Maualuga
Zeitler

Did the guys you list get some decent playing time as rookies? Yes.
Did they have anyone in front of them on the depth chart the day they were drafted? Also, yes.
Therefore, I don't think I was wrong in that the Bengals had some type of veteran (typically non-elite) ahead of them rather than handing them the starting role upon being drafted.

My point was the Bengals are not going out to get elite players in FA from outside. They bring in mid-to-lower tier FAs and then draft for their eventual replacements.