I understand the importance of continuity with coaching staff, but why would he not push for a new offensive line coach/run coordinator when those have been the biggest issues from day one in his tenure and nothing has changed since?

As tired of a topic this must be for some, I really am dumbfounded with the stubbornness sticking with Pollack. If we had an OL that could protect Joe and create a good run game this offense would be absolutely unstoppable.

Yet here we are going into another season and I don’t care who we pick up this off-season in free agency and draft picks, Pollack is going to get out schemed by the opponents on both fronts and Zac is going to have to take the blame for keeping him on.

So why are they choosing to keep him?

General question:
Why is it that other so called "small market " teams hire actual GM'S and decent scouting depts and Bengals refuse? Is it still the famous MB cheapness, or actually not having the $ to do so?
I thought Katie Brown was going to bring this team into present day but seeing them all over the Senior bowl yr after yr because they dont have enough scouts to really find the diamonds out there is just getting old. The fact they rarely sign a big name in FA (OB was exception) should also be a reason to invest in scouting, developing and drafting talent.
I look at what the Rams did in the draft and all of a sudden that Stafford/Goff trade doesnt look too bad for them. They are a contender again.
Lastly: Tobin is no GM, yes we have selected some good players here and there not counting no brainers like JB and Chase, but picking Jonah that high, and the rest of the misses on OL and DL are glaring at this point. Don't get me started on our 6th round punter: Robbins .....ugh

It's February and a Franchise Tag decision on TEE Higgins will have to be made soon.

Predict the outcome.

Take the POLL as to what you think will actually happen with TEE

Did they not learn with the Burrow investigation.

Begging the league to take draft picks.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/bengals-confident-sam-hubbard-will-revert-back-to-form-after-postseason-surgery

Duke Tobin was asked directly on the situation of Tee Higgins.

https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/2024/01/31/bengals-duke-tobin-tee-higgins-franchise-tag-rumors-speculation/

Quote:The Cincinnati Bengals have a tough call to make with wide receiver Tee Higgins this offseason.

Higgins, slated to be a free agent, is an obvious franchise tag candidate after player and team couldn’t agree to a long-term extension last offseason.

And while it’s easy to dismiss the whole situation as an obvious tag-and-forget situation, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin isn’t exactly ready to confirm that it will happen.

Here’s what Tobin told Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer on that topic during an interview at the Senior Bowl:

He’s not under contract now so we’re going to have to work through how to do that and if it’s possible and we’ll have to go through the gymnastics of that. So it’s a different scenario than it was last year. Trading a high-level player that’s under contract just because the future might demand it, that’s never really on my mind. We’ll see what happens this year. I want Tee Higgins back. Everyone on our team would like to have Tee Higgins back. Again, there’s one pie and how big of a slice that takes and what else we can’t do because of it, we’ll have to determine, and we’ll see.

The vague reply isn’t a shocker from Tobin, who outside of his “get your own” comments about Higgins last year in response to illogical trade rumors, usually keeps a lid on things.

Cincinnati can place a tag on Higgins from February 5 to March 20, which will cost the team roughly $21.7 million of its ample cap space. Otherwise, he’ll head to free agency.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has commented that he discussed the long-term plan with the team before signing his own major extension, which presumably includes plans for Higgins. Beyond the price tag though, Tobin and Co. will have to look at factors such as Higgins’ injury history and the fact they drafted multiple receivers last year, among others.

If the Bengals do tag Higgins, it’s extremely doubtful they do a tag-and-trade scenario.

Of course it is better to go to The Super Bowl than The Senior Bowl. It is also better to go to The AFC Championship Game. However the Bengals have always had less scouts than most NFL teams. Bengals have expected Head Coaches and Coaches to do their own scouting. That is hard to do when you are at The Super Bowl or just finishing AFC Championship Game.

So this year Bengals Head Coach and Coaches will be in full force at The Senior Bowl. It there is anybody worth drafting at The Senior Bowl, the Bengals coaches will know.

So to some this is touch football Pro Bowl week. To Bengals coaches it is Senior Bowl week.

Name the 4-best TEs in the NFL: One could make a great argument for LAPORTA, KITTLE, KELCE, ANDREWS.
What do they have in common? They all played in the conference Championship game

When discussion turns to TE around here one of the quick arguments is: A TE is not a focal point of a Taylor offense.

Yet:
UZOMAH had a career year the one year he spent w/ JB and Zac

HURST restarted his career in Cincy w/ JB and Zac

HUDSON went from a garbage journeyman to a viable part of our offense

I think we currently have 0 TEs under contract and that's not a bad thing IMO

Many are suggesting Tee is priority#1 in the off-season, but money/draft capital may be better spent getting a stud TE.

FA market is kinda thin at the top. He have the likes of Schultz, Fant, and Gesecki.

The draft has a stud TE (Bowers) and if he makes it to 18 he should be the pick

Then we have "rebuilding teams" that may entertain trade

Hockenson is pricey, but could likely be had from Minny as they clear cap

Pitts is being wasted in ATL, maybe the new regime there would prefer picks

Bears would most likely move KMET

What are other's thoughts on TE?

When a team goes 9-8 but underperforms in division play at 1-5 a problem definitely exists. Winning just two more division games — or maybe even one more — would have likely placed the Bengals in the AFC playoffs.

Also — and let’s be brutally honest — the Bengals should rightly have gone 0-6 in the division. In Week 18 Cleveland started their fifth string practice squad’s little brothers to save their starters for the playoffs.

In 2021 and 2022, the years the Bengals went to the AFC Championship, the team featured winning records against division opponents on the way to winning the AFC North and thereby securing at least one home playoff game. I am of the firm belief that Cincinnati needs to refocus effort on winning the AFC North and possibly securing a higher seed in the playoffs.

Success in the AFC North requires a shutdown defense, a robust running game, and a solid offensive line. That’s where to focus in the offseason.

It's late January, cold, rainy, and I'm a little pissed we weren't playing this weekend...so, let's talk about our recent drafts.

This current team's success was mainly built on can't miss draft picks and free agent signings.

The non drafted signings/trades of impact players over the past 3 years include:
Reader, Awuzie, Hendrickson, Hilton, Larry Ogunjobi (remember that guy?), Eli Apple, Vonn Bell, Alex Cappa, Ted Karras, B.J. Hill (trade), and Orlando Brown Jr

That is an absolute **** ton of contribution from free agents. If you couple that with the can't miss picks of Burrow and Chase, that is the reason for the success.

This leaves the question of "well, what about the draft picks?"

I wasn't sure when to start this sample size, so I went back to 2019 when the ZT era began. Since then (and not including the most recent class, because its honestly too early to tell), there are a total of six quality players from those four draft classes, and two of those were can't miss, no brainer picks (Burrow, Chase). Jonah Williams, Germain Pratt, Tee Higgins, and Logan Wilson round out that group.

What is even more concerning is how bad we've been at drafting in the trenches. Since 2018, here is a list of our OL/DL player draft picks:

Myles Murphy
Zach Carter
Cordell Volson
Jackson Carman
Joseph Ossai
Cam Sample
Tyler Shelvin
Dante Smith
Trey Hill
Wyatt Hubert
Khalid Kareem
Hakeem Adeniji
Rebel Wren
Michael Jordan G
Billy Price
Sam Hubbard
Andrew brown
Rod Taylor

and if we want to keep going through 2013:

Jordan Willis
Carl Lawson
Ryan Glasnow
Andrew Billings
Christian Westerman
Ced Ogbuehi
Jake Fisher
Marcus Hardison
Will Clarke
Russell Bodine
Margus Hunt
Tanner Hawkinson
Reid Fragel
Tj Johnson

That's what, two pretty good players (Hubbard, Lawson), an average-below average player (Volson), and a guy that showed some potential this year (Murphy)? That is SHOCKINGLY bad. 4 decent players in 10 years. I mean the majority of those guys aren't even back up quality players. Just HUGE misses.

So, the point of this whole thing is that with looming cap ramifications for star players, drafting now more than ever is going to be MASSIVELY important and we 1000% need to be better at it. I have high hopes for the 2023 class, but we REALLY need to start hitting on more picks, especially on the offensive and defensive lines.

I'm not sure who's responsible for talent evaluation along those fronts, but they should really be questioned by the results over the past decade.

We know the team is at a crossroads this upcoming offseason. The question is how do we approach this offseason, do we swing for the fences and bring in a couple A/A+ type free agents or do we take the 2021 approach and keep bringing in multiple B/B+ type free agents? Thoughts?