Hypothetical 2021 #1 pick

[Murdock2420]

(08-05-2020, 12:15 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: I just can’t get on board with this. You’re never getting the full value by trading the player vs trading the pick. If their was any doubt at all whether Burrow is the guy they would have just taken Chase Young and hoped to land Lawrence or Fields this year.

I'm okay with not getting full value, if you get the right guy by drafting them both. 

A first overall nets a decent haul but never forget we got two first round picks out of Carson Palmer. 

If you draft Lawrence, they compete and you get the one that is the right fit after competition and then trade the other for 2 first round picks... that is still damn good value. Sure, you lose out on a 2nd round pick maybe in this exchange, but I'd rather lose the 2nd and know we have "the guy" that will lead us.

 Burrow or Lawrence, whoever wins it outright, but nothing would hurt worse, then having a chance at Lawrence, trading the pick and seeing Burrow be good, even above average but not getting the team to the Super Bowl, and seeing Lawrence lead another team to a title. 

As you said last year leading up to the draft, an elite QB can change a team, and when you get the chance to make sure you have one by taking the guy who set records and then a guy who has been hyped as the best prospect for years and letting them settle it on the field, how can you pass that up? 

I'll add this in real fast, I have been a Clemson fan for years, back before they were actually winning anything and a part of that love of the team makes me lean towards Lawrence as does the success of Watson coming out of the same school.

The other big factor here is being a Bengals fan for life. We'll get a shot at Lawrence and pass.... and my fear is that Bengal karma kicks us as always, and Burrow goes the way of Ryan Leaf and is gone in a few years while Lawrence takes a team like Detroit or some other bad team that picks high and flips their fortunes and they get a title. It is just life as a Bengals fan, always waiting for the next kick to the gut. I want Burrow to succeed, I want him to be elite, but I have been burned by first round pick after first round pick with this team and it just would be our luck to have some rare thing happen that could benefit us and we some how Bengal it up.