I know everyone was concerned about fixing the O-line this offseason. I was right there with you all. I wanted us to go O-line with our first pick. But at the same time I was well aware of how horrible our defense was. Our offense was 26th is sacks allowed, but our defense finished DEAD LAST in sacks.

I see some guys complaining that we did not do enough to address the problem at O-line, but the fact is that this roster had so many holes we simply could not dedicate all of our resources to just fixing the O-line. The other teams that fans point to who did more for their O-line did not have as many holes at other spots on their roster.

(05-02-2021, 11:01 AM)fredtoast Wrote: I know everyone was concerned about fixing the O-line this offseason. I was right there with you all. I wanted us to go O-line with our first pick. But at the same time I was well aware of how horrible our defense was. Our offense was 26th is sacks allowed, but our defense finished DEAD LAST in sacks.

I see some guys complaining that we did not do enough to address the problem at O-line, but the fact is that this roster had so many holes we simply could not dedicate all of our resources to just fixing the O-line. The other teams that fans point to who did more for their O-line did not have as many holes at other spots on their roster.

They were smart to draft Ossai in the 3rd. I kind of expected them to wait until day 3 to select an edge rusher and was surprised it was sooner.

Hendrickson can’t be the only reliable rusher to have a successful defense, last year proved that with Lawson. Hopefully the additions of Milton, Ossai and Sample will prove to be the long term answers to this problem too

I’m glad they focused on the defensive line and overall defense this offseason. Yes, Burrow needs protecting, but there are a lot of games we lost last year due to poor defense. Also, it was easier for opposing D coordinators to pin their ears back and rush knowing that their teams could score on us or already had substantial leads. An improved defense will go a long way.

(05-02-2021, 11:45 AM)Gdale_Bengal Wrote: They were smart to draft Ossai in the 3rd. I kind of expected them to wait until day 3 to select an edge rusher and was surprised it was sooner.

Hendrickson can’t be the only reliable rusher to have a successful defense, last year proved that with Lawson. Hopefully the additions of Milton, Ossai and Sample will prove to be the long term answers to this problem too

Whos is Milton?

I suspect even the edges we had would have better years this coming year with Reader and Ogunjobi in the middle. (I wanted to see Reader/Atkins last year, but it never happened.)

(05-02-2021, 12:03 PM)kalibengal Wrote: Whos is Milton?

Maybe Mike Hilton? He's a CB, but he did have a fair share of sacks for a corner for the Steelers. 

Yeah it was Hilton.

I'm actually glad that the focus was on the trenches on both sides. I think that is a good way to get things going during a rebuild. I wasn't so thrilled with the trade down in the 2nd round. But I hope Carman will be as good or better than the other O-line players drafted ahead of him in the 2nd. At least that trade down did allow the Bengals to draft 2 more players in the 4th for both O-line and D-line.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this draft pans out in the next few years. I hope the Bengals hit a few home runs with all those picks. If so it will make for a much more flexible draft in the next few years.