The Draft is Not Enough

[*Go Cards*]

(03-16-2017, 11:54 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: After sitting with some free time on my mind, my thoughts turned to the Bengals and this particular offseason of complete inertia.  Andre Smith is back and that's an improvement albeit a tiny one.  Wow!  I just used "Andre Smith" and "tiny" in the same sentence.  That won't happen again.  Anyway, I understand Cincinnati has a "build through the draft" mentality and I think it's nice the Bengals have more players on their roster who have only played for this one team -- but as an analytical observer I believe the Bengals are entangled in a Sisyphusian struggle. The ceiling for even the best teams in the Marvin Lewis era is one and done in the playoffs.  It's not going to get better until Cincinnati reverses its collective recto-cranial inversion and starts approaching the offseason like a contender instead of a pretender.  

Yes, I know the Front Office bases free agency action on compensatory picks -- but that's always something for the future.  I know the Front Office doesn't like to pay high priced free agents even if they could help the team immediately.  There were some good players in free agency this offseason who would have loved to play for Cincinnati because most of the pieces are in place.  Some of them are still out there waiting to be signed by someone; why not Cincinnati?

It infuriated me the Bengals never even considered putting together a one or two season offensive line from free agents alone, or even a partial line.  Guys like Nick Mangold and Sebastian Vollmer aren't long term solutions but they're at least a stopgap temporary measure against getting Andy Dalton maimed beyond recognition.  I wish the Front Office would, just once, look at the immediate upcoming season and not beyond and make the necessary moves to win.  This approach must only work in New England or Pittsburgh.  Maybe something about the water in Cincinnati indicates it won't work here.

To be successful in a small market like Cincinnati, a team needs fresh infusions of players from free agency and the draft.  The rookies can contribute, sure, but veteran players from other teams can bring their strengths to Cincinnati and help overcome the Bengals' weaknesses.  Leaving the worst three players on the offensive line in starting roles after the departure of Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler is borderline insanity.  Russell Bodine can't stop a thermal neutron, Cedric Ogbuehi is too small, and Clint Boling is average at best.  A team needs a spectacular offensive line now to run with dominance and to throw with impunity.  Defensive linemen aren't getting weaker and slower.

It's okay to spend money.  Quality players don't come cheap.  I look at all these other teams making winning moves in free agency and I watch Cincinnati "kick the tires" and barely go through the motions and I don't understand.  Every team has the same salary cap.  Contracts can be restructured.  For all the talk about Mike Brown being a shrewd businessman I think it's complete and utter hogwash.  He could bring in big name players who would make an immediate impact if he chose to do so.  The Cincinnati Bengals are girding for battle wearing obsolete armor.  They attempt to pull onto the information superhighway with a Smith Corona typewriter.

I love this team.  I want a winner even if hope is fading.

Amen