Draft and Retain

[WhoDeyWho]

John Clayton article highlighting the Bengals success at drafting and retaining their players:

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/firstandgoal151022/what-rest-nfl-learn-patriots-packers-bengals

[grampahol]

Must be a reprint. I remember reading this several months ago or longer or perhaps it's been slightly tweaked. Regardless it's still a good strategy and it's been working well . Draft well and keep the good players you develop who know the system and other players and coaches not to mention that the fan base is more comfortable with players they know.

[Atomic Orange]

Ok, how did we get so good at drafting? Serious question because we use to be the worst and not much has changed other than Marvin but he has been here for years as well. You have to ask, what influence does Katie play in all of this? Could Katie become the queen of the queen city?

Another female had great success in the queen city, Marge Schott. Love or hate her she is the only female owner to have ever won a major sport championship.

Could Katie be next? Is she the true heir of Paul Brown.?

The new Queen of The Queen City?

I believe so.




All Hail The Queen

[Thundercloud]

I think Duke Tobin is the centerpiece of our draft process at this point, and even Marvin mentions this occasionally. But the general thought is that they like to get to a consensus on people if they possibly can. They don't like bringing people in who the position coaches or the coordinators are not really enthusiastic about. It still revolves around Marvin, but Tobin's role has grown quickly, and his results speak for themselves.

I think Katie is a huge asset, and she's certainly shown a tremendous interest in the team since she was very young. I think we've seen that she is a good enough executive to give the coaches and personnel people, namely Tobin, room to manage and do their jobs.

I've heard that her real area of expertise is the salary cap, and the management thereof. It is a very complex job, and she has handled it very well. She is an attorney, and also understands contracts and negotiations, and by now has lots of experience in this area, too. Mike has obviously been giving her more and more authority for a good while now. Her husband Troy Blackburn also has a central role at this point.

I know if feels strange for some of us, but we seem to be a very well-managed organization at this point.

[hitchopottimus]

(10-24-2015, 12:00 AM)Atomic Orange Wrote: Ok, how did we get so good at drafting? Serious question because we use to be the worst and not much has changed other than Marvin but he has been here for years as well. You have to ask, what influence does Katie play in all of this? Could Katie become the queen of the queen city?

Another female had great success in the queen city, Marge Schott. Love or hate her she is the only female owner to have ever won a major sport championship.

Could Katie be next? Is she the true heir of Paul Brown.?

The new Queen of The Queen City?

I believe so.




All Hail The Queen

If you look, the year we really started drafting well was the draft after Marvin Lewis signed his extension, and Carson asked out. It's always felt to me like more happened behind the scenes during the negotiations between Marvin and the team than simply him keeping his job. From that day forward it felt like Marvin was truly controlling the football aspects of the team, not just doing what Mike Brown said. I have no proof of that, or any sort of inside info, but I think the negotiations around that extension led to Marvin, or at least Marvin's guys, being in charge of the draft process instead of Mike Brown.

[reuben.ahmed]

Marvin Lewis knows how to draft players, one of his positives.

Secondly, this article is directed at the Browns, who have utilized nearly 150 different quarterbacks in the last 2 year alone.

[WhoDeyWho]

(10-24-2015, 07:46 AM)hitchopottimus Wrote: If you look, the year we really started drafting well was the draft after Marvin Lewis signed his extension, and Carson asked out. It's always felt to me like more happened behind the scenes during the negotiations between Marvin and the team than simply him keeping his job. From that day forward it felt like Marvin was truly controlling the football aspects of the team, not just doing what Mike Brown said. I have no proof of that, or any sort of inside info, but I think the negotiations around that extension led to Marvin, or at least Marvin's guys, being in charge of the draft process instead of Mike Brown.

We drafted Dunlap in the 2nd and Atkins in the 4th in 2010.  They are probably the two best defensive players other than the undrafted Burfict.  There are several other starters still with this team that were drafted earlier (Whitworth, Peko, Smith, Rey, Hall).  This team had been drafting well before Carson asked out.  

[WhoDeyWho]

(10-24-2015, 08:47 AM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: Marvin Lewis knows how to draft players, one of his positives.

Secondly, this article is directed at the Browns, who have utilized nearly 150 different quarterbacks in the last 2 year alone.

Manziel over Carr?  Bridgewater?  Really?  

[Junglejuice]

(10-24-2015, 12:00 AM)Atomic Orange Wrote: Ok, how did we get so good at drafting? Serious question because we use to be the worst and not much has changed other than Marvin but he has been here for years as well. You have to ask, what influence does Katie play in all of this? Could Katie become the queen of the queen city?

Another female had great success in the queen city, Marge Schott. Love or hate her she is the only female owner to have ever won a major sport championship.

Could Katie be next? Is she the true heir of Paul Brown.?

The new Queen of The Queen City?

I believe so.




All Hail The Queen

In Pumpkin and Duke we trust.

[CageTheBengal]

Call me a homer or whatever but I love the Bengals approach the off-season just about every year and have since Dalton and Green arrived. We've been watching something special grow for years now with this "Draft and retain" approach and it has finally started to turn into not just a competitor but a top team in the league.

I love the draft and am not a big fan of free agency. Not saying we should avoid free agency entirely but the draft is how we should be getting our core players. Avoiding big free agency busts since the Dalton era has allowed us to spread the wealth to our own guys. Ever wonder why the Bengals don't have "leaders" like Kam Chancellor holding out? It's because they have set the tone and built a culture were the players know their time will come for big money if they keep their nose down and get to work.

Thanks for the read!

[grampahol]

It's a bit of a luxury to have a successful couple of years because you get to develop the guys you draft as the successful players ahead of them teach the ropes and they get to learn the system they're in instead of having to reteach players from a different system. It's really not a whole lot different from any successful business or enterprise when you get right down to it. When I think back on all the different jobs I've had in my life I always hated going somewhere else and having to relearn or do things completely different from the way I always did them before especially if it's with a bunch of clowns who think they know it all, but in reality I ended up having to reteach them and unteach their bad habits.

[reuben.ahmed]

(10-24-2015, 09:11 AM)WhoDeyWho Wrote: Manziel over Carr?  Bridgewater?  Really?  

Living in Cleveland, when they drafted Manziel - all the fans were so hyped. I'm like are you kidding, hah, best pick ever for a Bengals fan. It's come to fruition, so far.

[Shake n Blake]

There's not a single person on the boards that is against the (solid) draft and retain approach. Some just think that every now and then (not all the time - not every year) it'd be nice to see this team sign a quality free agent. Not some big splash $100 million guy, just somebody who isn't off the scrap heap.

That is entirely reasonable, it wouldn't wreck the team, and plenty of teams that "draft and retain" also sign mid-tier free agents. Honestly, the idea that some teams try to build through FA is total BS. All 32 teams try to build through the draft. The teams you see splurging on dozens of FA's do so because they are bad at drafting.

When a team is bad at drafting, they have tons of money to spend on free agents because they have few players of their own that are truly worth blowing money on to retain. Thus why we see teams like the Bucs and Redskins always splurging. They don't suck because they "build through FA". They suck because they're bad at drafting and have to compensate by paying huge contracts to free agents.

Free agency isn't a bad thing when used correctly. Almost every Super Bowl winner has received big contributions from players not drafted by the team. You don't splurge, but you don't always go to the scrap heap, either. Every now and then, pick out a mid-tier guy who can shore up a weak spot or be an x-factor without breaking the bank. This isn't rocket science.