05-17-2019, 01:26 PM
Anyone who disagrees that Marvin Jones's absence left a hole in this offense didn't watch 2015. Having two or more guys that can get open off the snap is a difference maker as we saw with Boyd stepping into LaFell's spot last year. Jones isn't a superstar, but he got paid for a reason and he's been more than adequate in Detroit. Yes, LaFell had good stats and he wasn't any scrub, but he was far from a threat that Jones possessed with his speed and ability to move in space.
People will bring up the offensive line being a mess (which it was) but it was the exact same lineup except for Andre Smith. Smith wasn't Ogbuehi awful but he had his fair share of drive killing penalties/sacks in 2015. Matter of fact, there are people on this forum that will disagree with the notion that the Bengals had a great OL in 2015 and say they only looked good because they had great weapons that could get open. Who was one of those weapons?? Enter LaFell and a rookie and the offense gets worse and opponents are able to attack the weak O-line more? Not a coincidence.
If we at least kept Sanu and still drafted Boyd, we would've fared much better. You don't reach for John Ross either in 2017 and you draft a better player in that scenario. That's a topic for another day, though.
People will bring up the offensive line being a mess (which it was) but it was the exact same lineup except for Andre Smith. Smith wasn't Ogbuehi awful but he had his fair share of drive killing penalties/sacks in 2015. Matter of fact, there are people on this forum that will disagree with the notion that the Bengals had a great OL in 2015 and say they only looked good because they had great weapons that could get open. Who was one of those weapons?? Enter LaFell and a rookie and the offense gets worse and opponents are able to attack the weak O-line more? Not a coincidence.
If we at least kept Sanu and still drafted Boyd, we would've fared much better. You don't reach for John Ross either in 2017 and you draft a better player in that scenario. That's a topic for another day, though.
