What Would Your Draft Have Been?

[*ochocincos*]

(Yesterday, 01:39 PM)kevin Wrote: Lou was on the same page with Zac.  Zac wanted Bengals D to have 5 to 6 DB's on the field 80 % of the game, and Lou did.   However Golden who had one of the top coaching jobs in football at Notre Dame is not coming to Cincinnati to play that Zac and Lou defense.  Golden has already said he will have 3 and 4 LB's on the field more.  So instead of this Zac and Lou 5 to 6 DB's on the field 80 % of the game,  Golden is going to have more 3 and 4 LB packages. Sometimes Golden will have the extra DB's on the field, but not 80 % of the game.  Look for Golden to go back to more LB's in more of the game.  Golden said he would.  I think this was agreed on when Golden left the top coaching job at Notre Dame to come to Cincy, that he could run his defense, not the Zac and Lou all DB's all the time defense.  

So for Golden to run his more Linebackers defense, he needed more Front Seven players, because the Zac and Lou didn't have enough of what Golden needs.  The first 2 picks taken, Golden says they fit well with his defense he will run.  They are front 7 players who Golden says can play in a lot of different D packages, and they can shift on the field keeping Golden from caught in the wrong defense as offenses try to do.  Golden says the first 2 players drafted can play in many D packages, and that is what Golden says he needed to have more Front 7 players on the field.  

I like what Golden coming from Notre Dame is saying.  Bengals will not be mostly DB's in a Prevent D as Zac and Lou did most of game.  Golden is going to have more Front 7 D Line and LBs in Bengals games, being more aggressive in the trenches.  Not sitting back in prevent pass coverage all game as Bengals have been doing and losing.  

Zac has said all along that he like 5 to 6 DB's on the field most of game and that is what Lou did.  Golden coming from Notre Dame says that is not what he is going to do. Golden is going to get more Linebackers into Bengals games.  This is why Front 7 players were drafted early.  Get ready for a whole new and different approach to defense on Bengals, and it is needed.  What Bengals were doing on defense wasn't working.  I welcome Golden coming from Notre Dame and shaking things up on Defense.  

On Offense, they have Burrow, Chase and Higgins long term now.  The offense is fine.  The defense was lousy, but Golden from Notre Dame is talking a whole different defense with less extra DB prevent D and more Linebackers. Golden has said sometimes 4 Linebackers on the field.  We were use to Zac and Lou playing only 2 Linebackers.   Get ready for more 3 LB and 4 LB sets out of Golden, but able to go to the Nickle and Dime D also.  This is indeed what Golden has said. Under him the Bengals will use more LB's, as many as 4 LBs sometimes.  Golden brings a whole new era on Bengals D, and it was needed, because Zac and Lou in the Prevent most of the game wasn't working. 

GO BENGALS. ....and people will like these picks more once they see what Golden is doing on defense. More of a Front 7 attack. 

PS : I still do not know why a coach would leave a top job at Notre Dane to come to Bengals, even if he once coached at Bengals.  Still, I think Bengals Fans got lucky that he did.  Golden coming here and the D players drafted is the shake up this way too passive defense needed.  Let's get back to winning games. 

     

I hope Golden can at least get the defense back to Paul Guenther level (middle of pack, sometimes better).
Ideally it'd be back to a Top 10 defense like when Zimmer was DC.

Even a middle-of-the-pack defense with an offense like they had most of last year would result in being one of the best AFC teams.
Both offense and defense being Top 10 could have them as the top seed in the AFC.

It's said that Golden will expect to have more flexibility and adjust not only to what the opponents are doing but also better cater to their own players' strengths.
We'll see how well that happens, but more (press) man coverage and more 3-LB looks than Bengals were doing under Anarumo.

I think we probably gave Anarumo more credit than he deserved though, as 4 of his 6 years had the 21st ranked defense or worse.
2021 was just middle of the pack and some timely turnovers in the playoffs.
2022 was the overall best defense, and the only one that was Top 10 in Points Allowed.
2019 and 2020 were disastrous for him, so much so that I and others wanted him gone for 2021. But the back-to-back deep postseason run really helped keep him around longer.