Looking Back

[No-huddle Joe]

(10-14-2019, 04:50 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: We are a team that builds primarily through the draft and FA, a look at why our OL  and talent is below par. I like looking forward, but this is a main reason why we are where we are today. Our talent is lacking, the OL is in a shambles.

We panicked and drafted Whitt's replacements too soon setting the stage for his departure. The void has never been fixed.

We had a choice of 2 guards, Zeitler (we chose) or DeCastro who most said was a can't miss. DeCastro is one of the best guards in football, Zeitler was good and never great. How good would our OL have been adding DeCastro with Whitt.

We could have drafted Mahomes or Watson instead of John Ross. The Chiefs and a QB named Smith, but decided to draft another QB and traded up for Mahomes.

Those are just 3 huge misses off the top of my head. 2 would have fixed our OL.

I also see teams like the Steelers take unknowns like the current LT and make them stars. So, yes coaching also an issue.

Who do you have that would make our roster more talented but we did not draft?

I know that Ross has pretty much been a bust, looking like maybe this was his coming out year before getting injured, but I don't always believe that you can say "Mahomes would have worked out better, or Watson".  The only reason I say this is because you never know how those guys would work out in the Bengals system.  Right now the only thing either one of them would be able to do is run.  Then how long do they last before a major knee injury or something?  I know we can see they are working out much better than Ross now, but still I think this is more of a "hindsight is 20/20" thing.  I agree about needing a better scouting staff....then maybe we could choose players that fit our system, not just the fastest guy at the combine, or because Mel Kiper says he should be the number one guy.