Fixing the Bengals

[CJD]

(10-28-2024, 04:30 PM)psychdoctor Wrote: This thread is open to all Bengal fans to espouse how they would "realistically" fix the team's underperformance.  However, there are RULES:

• Team cannot relocate to another city
• Coach Taylor cannot be fired (he just signed a new contract)
• Team cannot transfer ownership
  

Defining the Problems (Areas to consider):

• Team personnel, Talent acquisition via draft or Free Agency.  
  

• Money Cap allocation
  

• Changing Coaching Staff (outside of Taylor)
  

• Player Personnel and Development Director
  

• Coaching Schemes
  

Please be respectful.

It's going to be incredibly difficult to fix this team without getting rid of the coaching. We need a new play caller and we aren't going to get an elite offensive mind to come here just to be OC. We need to have the head coach role available.

with that said, if we can't fire Taylor, then priority #1 is he gives up all play calling duties. His entire scheme is just "Joe Burrow will squeeze a perfect ball into a window the size of a pea after our receivers run predictable and uncreative routes that do not pair together in a way that naturally creates space but rather rely on our receivers out-athleting the defender"

If Taylor giving up play calling duties is also off the table, then here's my list:

1. Re-sign Tee Higgins. I don't care that he misses 3 to 5 games per year. When he isn't out there, we lose. It's that simple. He needs to be on the team, or we need to find a play caller that doesn't rely on having 2 elite receivers that consistently win their 1 on 1s and draw attention out of the middle of the field at all times.

2. Revamp the scouting department. I don't know what is going on, but we've drafted bust after bust after bust in the last 3 years. And it isn't like they were good prospects when drafted, and then they didn't develop. Jackson Carman, Zach Carter, and Myles Murphy were all "huh?" picks on draft night in the first three rounds. Our other day 2 picks have been underwhelming as well (Ossai, CTB, Turner, Battle). CTB was the one shining star of these draft classes, but he has regressed...so much this season. Our 2022 and 2023 first round picks have underwhelmed as well. Dax Hill had to change positions to save his career (and to his credit, it actually looked like it was working to a point, before his season ending injury), and Myles Murphy is the definition of a non-factor. If we aren't going to pay our star free agents like Andrew Whitworth, Jessie Bates, DJ Reader and Tee Higgins, then we must at least get good value out of the draft. We have failed tremendously in that regard ever since 2020 + Chase. To their credit, the 2024 draft class looks pretty good so far. Mims, All and Jenkins have looked okay, but it's still early. We'll see if they actually develop into strong starters over time.

3. Re-sign Mike Hilton. He's one of the few defensive players still making plays. We need to keep him around.

4. Re-work the IOL. I will not throw out names because I'm not sure who the free agents are this season, but our run blocking is horrendous. It needs to be revamped from the inside out. Cappa and Volson are not good enough guards and Karras is a good locker room guy, but I think he's an average center at  best.

5. Do something - Anything - about the pass rush. Hubbard is not a viable pass rusher, we are getting no pass rush up the middle, and Murphy has been a colossal bust up to this point. Invest actual capital here. This is losing us games.

I could list every position group that is horrendous, but that would be almost every position outside of QB and WR, so I'll just stop there. Our talent acquisition and retention practices have been abysmal and we can no longer coast on the rookie contracts of Joe, Ja'Marr and Tee. Time to become a real franchise and spend some money.