02-19-2022, 12:09 AM
During the Marvin Lewis era the Bengals primarily built through the draft which got the team to the playoffs seven times. This approach Marvin took brought the Bengals from the basement to respectability. When he was head coach very few free agents were brought to Cincinnati and the ones who came were either washed up former stars like Dexter Jackson and Sam Adams or one hit wonders like Roy Williams, Deltha O’Neal, and Tory James.
The Front Office wasn’t wrong then because predominantly building through the draft made the Bengals more competitive but it took a fresh look - and building through free agency first — to go deep in the playoffs and come very close to winning the Super Bowl (1) with a horrendous offensive line (2) against a loaded opponent.
Mike Brown and Duke Tobin learned to take a new “free agency first” approach and it transformed the defense. Now we’ll see this strategy transform the offense.
The Front Office wasn’t wrong then because predominantly building through the draft made the Bengals more competitive but it took a fresh look - and building through free agency first — to go deep in the playoffs and come very close to winning the Super Bowl (1) with a horrendous offensive line (2) against a loaded opponent.
Mike Brown and Duke Tobin learned to take a new “free agency first” approach and it transformed the defense. Now we’ll see this strategy transform the offense.
![[Image: 4CV0TeR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4CV0TeR.png)
