Hobspins annual lies

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(03-06-2016, 11:00 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: I've always thought Marvin's 1st free agent class was by far his best (Kelly, Hardy, James, Clemons, Thornton). But, that free agent class was required out of necessity. The Bengals desperately needed new blood to begin a new era. Since then, it's been a very mixed bag. Green-Ellis was a decent player, but pretty average. Other guys like Dhani, Benson and Crocker (all initially added during the season), became productive, steady players for the majority of their time here. Others like Adams, Coles, Bryant and Utecht turned out to be terrible signings for different reasons. The signings of Allen, Anderson and Wharton in the same offseason ended up to be a complete disaster (including Wharton playing well for Carolina after we cut him).

For whatever reason, many of the Bengals most 'productive' signings have come from other teams cast offs, reclamation projects, low risk or inexpensive deals, etc (like Crocker, Benson, Pacman, Newman and Gilberry). I'm starting to think that they are much more competent with those types of moves than they are with anything requiring a real financial risk/investment in free agency. 

I get as frustrated as anyone at their free agent approach at times, but we have to be realistic in terms of what they actually do well. While I would love to land a big name/impact type player...I'm not sure I trust this front office to make that decision. I'm much more confident in their ability to find another team's reject, a former high round bust, or a vet minimum sort of guy...and turn them into productive players. 

I guess I'm criticizing and praising the front office at the same time, but it's just how I see things right now when it comes to their abilities in the (outside) free agent market. 

How could this  be.......what with our sure fire, first ballot, HOF o line coach here?  How did Carolina manage to outcoach the legend?