Bengals- One of the best over next 3 years?

[*SHRacerX*]

(07-01-2015, 04:49 PM)Nately120 Wrote: I think the argument to that would be 1991-2004 and/or the drafting of Akili Smith...or something to that effect.  I guess we only choose to mention the 90s when it comes to scaring people out of wanting to replace Marvin Lewis, eh?  I don't want to derail a positive thread, but lordy acting like Mike Brown doesn't have ample suckage on his resume?  For shame.

There were a lot of teams that would have drafted Reinard Wilson, Ki-Jana Carter, Akili Smith, David Klingler.  The fact that they were among the greatest NFL busts of all time (all of them!) killed this team in that era.  Without the rookie wage scale, drafting at the top of the draft was placing a HUGE bet on one player, because he was going to be paid a ton before he took one snap.  These four busts handicapped the Bengals tremendously.  The fact that they had a decent run in 95 with Blake and Pickens was at least showing that there was some talent despite the financial burden of those draft picks. 

The arrival of the rookie wage scale allows teams to survive the drafting of Christian Ponder, Blaine Gabbert, and Jake Locker.  So, if anything, Mike Brown (it is really Katie, Troy, and Marv) have done an excellent job in a more competitive environment.