I'm just tired of Bengals football, man

[SunsetBengal]

(01-08-2024, 03:41 PM)TecmoBengals Wrote: Do GMs sit around even thinking about building teams to compete by division or conference? I wonder how they frame their thinking when drafting. I could see a GM thinking:

"I want to draft a RB who can pound the ball" but do they think:

"I want to draft a RB who can pound the ball against my fellow AFC North teams"?

Is this all made-up fan thinking we're talking about or is it well documented NFL GMs have gone on the record starting they draft to compete in their division or conference?

Part of building a team to win a championship includes being built capable of holding one's own with whatever your division/conference has to offer.  In the AFCN, you have three teams with extremely physical OLs and DLs, and then you have the Bengals.  Had the Browns not played the scrub team, the Bengals would have likely went 0-6 versus the division.

Documented by NFL GMs or not, you tell me how important it is to compete with your own division?  I mean, putting yourself in a 6 game hole means you have to be perfect versus the rest of the league..