04-14-2019, 09:33 PM
(04-14-2019, 06:04 PM)Au165 Wrote: I’ll say this yet again. When Andy, Aj, Mixon, Boyd, etc we’re healthy out offense was still good. Even with our bad o line it didn’t derail our ability to win. When our defense was healthy we were still one of the worst units in football and that was directly related to the horrible play of our linebackers. We can hide flaws on the O line because as an offense you dictate the action, but on defense one glaring hole can be exploited as you are at the mercy of the opposing offense.
The later in the draft argument is how we got to this place. We have guys we took later in the draft and they were part of one of the worst Lb coverage units in history. It’s the two Devins or Wilson otherwise we are falling for the same thing we have done for the last decade. I think you could get Wilson later in the 1st but it’s no guarantee. Baltimore loves Bama players and they need a replacement for Mosley.
I'd piggy back on this and say it wasn't just a one year issue, either. It seems like our linebackers have been getting taken advantage of in coverage for as long as I can remember, either through the tight end or a running back catching passes out of the backfield. As you pointed out, the Bengals have rarely put a premium on drafting linebackers high up and it shows. There are obviously no guarantees but I'd feel really good if they came away with one of those three guys you mentioned (though I'm not sure they'd take Wilson at 11).
