04-30-2018, 09:39 AM
(04-30-2018, 08:58 AM)fredtoast Wrote: False. Just another hayer myth. Bengals are actually one of the better teams at finding players in the 4th round or later (Atkins, Boling, Iloka, Jones, Lawson)
Since 2010 there have only been 60 players drafted in the 4th round or later who have accumulated at least 50 starts. That works out to fewer than 2 per team on average. The Bengals have FIVE of those players.
Great stuff about some of our late round guys, and in case there's a counter argument, I wouldn't think it's fair to say that those guys wouldn't start for other teams - and with the exception of Iloka (whom I would still say is a top 32 safety), the others are legit starters most anywhere, with Atkins an obviously special player.
I do have one point of clarification - did you mean Carl Lawson? ...or maybe Manny? I'm thinking Carl wouldn't have been in the league long enough to play 50 games let alone starts, and we didn't draft Manny (actually don't know what year he was drafted, or what round), and I'm not for sure, but don't think he would have made 50 starts for the Bengals (would he have started here more than 3 years?)
If it was Carl, I guess he could potentially qualify in this metric at some point down the line, depending on if he was credited with actual starts over his career, but then also, there will be more players added to this list most likely if we project future late round picks who haven't accumulated even enough time in the league yet to get their starts.
At any rate, I agree with your general point that the Bengals are just as good if not better than most teams for finding late round starters, who actually would be starting on most teams too.
