03-10-2020, 08:32 PM
(03-10-2020, 10:27 AM)ochocincos Wrote: They will re-sign their own "meh" guys or bring in some mid-to-lower tier FA to start and then have the draft pick play behind them until the coaches feel the draft pick is ready to start.
(03-10-2020, 08:19 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Wait, what was I wrong about?
The following had a veteran in front of them when they were drafted:
Gresham (Reggie Kelly)
Eifert (Gresham)
Hill (Bernard)
Bernard (BJGE)
Green (Chad, Simpson)
Mixon (Hill, Bernard)
Hubbard (MJ)
Lawson (MJ)
Dunlap (Geathers)
Bates (Iloka)
Shipley (Chad, TO, Caldwell)
Bodine (Cook)
Boyd (Green, LaFell)
My point was the Bengals are not going out to get elite players in FA from outside. They bring in mid-to-lower tier FAs and then draft for their eventual replacements.
Pretty much none of the guys you list as starters ahead of the rookies were mid-to-lower tier free agents signed to start in front of rookies. They are almost all long time starters that were already in place.
And that is the way it works with almost every team in the league. A little over half of the first round picks last year (18) started more than 8 games. In fact rookies are more likely to start for bad teams than good teams because bad teams have more holes.
