John '2 fast 2 film' Ross

[*ochocincos*]

(06-26-2018, 01:25 PM)cooper Wrote: we needed two offensive linemen and you dont take someone that is a top ten pick ( aside from quarterback) that is developmental

The Bengals knew there was a need for OL, but clearly they didn't think any of the OL in the draft were worth a top 10 pick. If they would have taken an OL in the top 10 in the 2017 draft, you'd have seen some people saying the Bengals reached way too far vs going BPA.

IMO the Bengals had a plan going into that draft...
Take a blend of BPA with elite traits that would be a need in 1-2 years but could afford to have them groomed for a year or two if needed.
I think it came down to John Ross or OJ Howard.
If Ross, the Bengals likely felt they had LaFell as a stopgap while Ross was groomed. If Howard, they had at least a year with Eifert as the lead guy.
They followed this same approach all the years prior with WJ3, Ogbuehi, Dennard, Eifert, and Kirkpatrick.
Wanting the Bengals to draft primarily based on need is just something that is most often wishful thinking because we know how they typically operate.

Maybe that changes though with this kind-of-new regime, as we've seen with the selection of Billy Price. It was a definite change from how they've typically approached the early rounds for years.