01-03-2025, 02:30 PM
(01-03-2025, 11:26 AM)ochocincos Wrote: I get it, but I don't think it's hard to find at least a solid starting OG on Day 2, personally.
Bengals don't try to run such heavy wide zone that Ratledge or Booker would be a huge liability, at least not a drop off compared to the guys they currently have who aren't uber-mobile (Cappa, Volson) lol.
Ratledge has enough lateral agility and mobility to succeed in the Bengals' scheme, IMO, even if not elite at it.
With that said, the FA IOL I would love to have depending on how his physical will show would be James Daniels.
He and Risner are my dream IOL for this team.
Some may crap on Risner because they've seen him jump teams but he's performed well everywhere he's gone. He's been a great budget signing in his career.
I think in a perfect world, if Bengals could find a way to head into the draft with Daniels and Higgins both signed (might need some crafty cap structuring to pull off), I'd love to pull the trigger on a TE and safety/DL in first two rounds who can contribute heavy snaps as rookies.
I'm not necessarily opposed to drafting a G, but to me, they need to add something to justify a 2nd round pick. Ratledge is just more of the same types of guys we have, "glass eater", but bad balance and struggles with interior quickness means he will take some embarrassing L's in pass pro and he doesn't add much to the run game in terms of what plays we can effectively run. Much has been made about the poor RAS of this OL group, and to me, if we're spending premium draft capital on the OL, it needs to be done with an eye on improving that.
I highly doubt Ratledge will be an outright bust, but to me, he's just going to be one of those guys that hangs around the league for a decade as a quality backup and replacement level starter. I think there will be better prospects available, and Ratledge is the type of guy that goes in the 4th-5th in a good OL class. He is to G prospects what Drew Sample was to TE's.
