07-18-2017, 10:41 AM
(07-17-2017, 01:22 PM)3wt Wrote: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2017/07/14/cincinnati-bengals-50-david-klingler-and-akili-smith/366545001/
Given the Brown family's obsession with drafting QBs - here is an article that points out 2 different failures drafting QBs.
The surprising one for me? David Klingler - Wasn't a Mike Brown decision at all. The one who wanted him so bad was Dave Shula, who now qualifies in my mind as one of the biggest reasons for the creation of the "Bungles" mystique. It wasn't bad enough that he did not know how to run a franchise and was not respected by his players. He was the one who insisted that we take David Klingler resulting in our trading Boomer Esiason a year later.
What might have happened if the Bengals had selected Troy Vincent in the first round?
The article does not ascribe the responsibility for drafting Akili Smith. But I think it's interesting that Bruce Coslet noted the major red flag raised by what Smith's college head coach raised by saying that he only played Smith his last year in college because he did not trust him.
We could have had a lot of draft picks and another great corner.
Between those two decisions the Bungles era dawned.
I know there are a lot more knowledgeable Bengals fans than me. What are your thoughts?
I'd say more teams whiff on QB's than not. Probably the success rate of a 1st Round QB pick is somewhere around 25%.
I heard one talent evaluator say that only about 49% of 1st Round picks EVER go on to become starters in this league.
The draft is just a huge crapshoot.
Smith seemed like a classic 1 year wonder. Couch, McNabb, or Smith. Picking 3rd we were taking whoever was left. Passing on the Saints trade offer made it worse. Passing on Edgerrin James, Champ Bailey, and Ricky Williams made it worse. Actually 8 of the top 11 picks in that draft were Pro Bowl players.
It's what bad teams do though...they chase QB's while the rest of their roster is in shambles.
Another irony is IF Klingler worked out...the Bengals wouldn't have had to draft Akili Smith.
The 1992 draft overall was pretty good: Darryl Williams and Pickens were Pro Bowl players. In addition, we later acquired 2 other Pro Bowl players from that draft in Blake and Ambrose.
