Bengals want miracle man on sidelines- Optimism of candidates belies negativity surro

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(11-25-2017, 11:44 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: With our epically bad offensive line, it's amazing that you're in the they should have let Zeitler leave camp. Especially after seeing that they didn't spend that money elsewhere.

Some people will defend the Bengals Management no matter what though. Shakes my head.

Hate to bump an argument but I havent had time to respond properly until now lol

You are mistaken I am not defending the Management I just disagree with the Zeitler extension. 

You are saying you and everyone predicted that the Offensive Line was going to go bad BEFORE the 2016 season and nothing could be further from the truth. I can go back and pull up posts here or google talking head articles that support this...

The Bengals were coming off their best regular season in Bengal History. During that season they had one of the best and deepest offensive lines in the NFL. During the 2016 offseason the Bengals allowed Andre Smith to leave as they had not one but two highly drafted young tackles that had not seen the field. They had a young Center while having a fairly AVERAGE season he improved alot from his rookie year. Clint Boling was under contract and had the LG spot locked down. The Bengals drafted a guard in the 5th round that was considered someone that slid (Westerman) and had a young undrafted free agent they were excited about (Hopkins).

It really looked like the Offensive line had a decent future....BEFORE the 2016 season. At this same time they had Dre Kirk who after starting slow in 2015 really came on, one of the best linebackers in football, and a TE that looked like he was going to become one of the premiere players in the NFL. (Dont jump ahead.) All these guys were in line for HUGE contracts.

At this point Im sure they did try to lowball Zeitler it would have been the smart move. (You are arguing it was 5.5 mil. I saying it was probably closer to 8.5 to 9m either way thats a Lowball considering what he would make in FA.) They were not going to give Zeitler a huge contract at this point because they felt secure with their offensive line....So did everyone else LoL.

What moves do I say the FO did poorly? 

They completely dissed Andrew Whitworth. Whit was the best tackle in football in 2015 he had set a record for most snaps not giving up a sack while moving people in the run game. The Knee injury from a few years back was a complete non factor...Not only was Whit a great tackle he WAS the Cincinnati Bengals. Whit was the leader on and off the field he was a great locker room guy but also let teammates into his home when they needed a place to stay. Whit was the Bengals rep for all the leagues organizations. How could the Bengals FO not offer this man an extension is beyond me...even with 2 tackles waiting in the wings.

As for Zampese while he was a mistake I say it was an honest one. Zamp developed two decent QBs in Carson and Andy. He also studied under 3 completely different OC in Hue, Gruden, and Brat. He was in line for a shot at OC somewhere.

The 2016 season happens... Zampese looks awful, BOTH young tackles play poorly, and Eifert goes through back surgery. Enter the offseason both Whit and Zeilter are hitting FA no matter what. Zeilter gets paid the most of any guard in nfl history. Whit signs a huge contract from the Rams a 3year deal where he gets 1/3rd of it as a bonus and another bonus if he makes it all 3 years...

Now its WHY didnt they attack free agency and get this guy or that guy. For this we have to realize the Bengals are one of the hardest teams to sign free agents to because they are a small market team. It is not an excuse so much extra stuff goes into these us fans never consider. Lets look at Whitworth he signed for the Rams hes also currently heavily involved with Jay Glazers gym and he has a new market for Jersey sales (which a huge chunk goes to the player).

As for why they didnt draft any offensive lineman in 2017 draft. I dont know but I do have to say look at the defensive line talent and how well they are playing across the league. In 2018 the first priority likely wouldnt be a guard or a tackle but rather a center considering Bodine isnt under contract and has dropped off big time since that average 2015 season. 

To Recap Im saying its easy to look back and say we could see the line going bad right here but in truth thats with knowledge after the fact. When Whit and Zeilter were up for extensions prior to the 2016 season the Bengals, the talk heads, us Fans considered the offensive line a deep position.

Journey before Destination.