Bengals have contacted Dede Westbrook

[*ochocincos*]

(05-10-2021, 04:21 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: Huh?  When do the Bengals ever have only 1 LB on the field? 

It's not at all an unimportant position.  And if you don't believe me then take a look at the amount of LB's taken in the 1st round these last 5 years:

2021 - 5
2020 - 4
2019 - 4
2018 - 4
2017 - 5

Total = 22

Now look at these other positions on defense over those same 5 years...

DE
2021 - 4
2020 - 2
2019 - 5
2018 - 2
2017 - 6

Total = 19

DT
2021 - 1
2020 - 2
2019 - 5
2018 - 3
2017 - 1

Total - 14

DB (CB+S)

2021 - 5
2020 - 6
2019 - 3
2018 - 6
2017 - 8

Total - 28

Why are teams investing 1st round picks into such an unimportant positon?

Are all those 1st round LBs off-ball LBs, or are some of them 3-4 OLBs?

From what I see for off-ball LBs...
2021 - 3 (Parsons, Collins, Davis)
2020 - 3 (Simmons, Brooks, Queen)
2019 - 2 (White, Bush)
2018 - 4 (Smith, Edmunds, LVE, Evans)
2017 - 3 (Reddick, Davis, Foster)

There are a couple other guys who might have been given the label of LB, but they really are just EDGE rushers.
They are not really dropping into coverage hardly at all.

EDIT - And here are the guys from the above list who made the Top 50 LBs in the league last year according to PFF...
Roquan Smith - 17th
Isaiah Simmons - 29th
Rashaan Evans - 38th

So out of all the LBs taken in the 1st round 2017-2020, only 3 ended up in PFF's Top 50 in performance last season. To me, that shows that LB hasn't been worth the investment in the 1st round. Most of the guys in the Top 50 (and especially Top 30) are 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round draft picks.