Will We Make a Trade Today?

[I_C_DeadPeople]

(10-31-2018, 02:32 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I agree with just about everything except the bolded part.  If we listened to fans we would have cut Dre Kirkpatrick, Andre Smith, and Darquez Dennard before they had a chance to become valuable starters.

Building through the draft is actually very smart, but when you get a solid core and have a shot to compete for a championship you have to step up and take a chance on a top quality free agent or two to shore up weak spots.  That is where the Bengals fail.

Agreed. I should have phrased that differently. I find the team takes too long to determine if a draft pick is going to pan out or not. Dennard spent too much time on the bench waiting to get on the field. Others that are slugs, like Hunt, hang around with the hope of a turnaround. To me, it just needs to be better analysis of the players on hand, see where the gaps are and try and find other available players to fill those gaps. Bates is starting this year but ML has generally hated playing young players but in the league today with the salary cap you have little choice. This is where ML has not moved forward in how he coaches.