12-29-2020, 09:31 AM
(12-29-2020, 02:51 AM)CanadianBengal Wrote: I think lots of responses questioned about which Bengals would make a championship roster. I think the real issue is how few Bengals are elite level players. The type of players that elevate others around them, beat their man consistently one on one, require double teaming and gameplanning or just plain old make things happen.
Bates is the only player on this roster that deserved discussion about being an All-Pro. Burrows may get their one day. Many of the Bengals current players would be better if the guy beside them was better. Lawson and Hubbard would benefit from an interior pass rush or dominant blitzing linebacker. Burrowns and Mixon would excel if they had time or holes. There are a few weak spots for sure --but I think the biggest problem is the lack of dominant players. How many players on GB, Seattle and KC are elite? How many Bengals are?
When this team went to the playoffs it had more players who were near the top for their positions and forced teams to account for them every play.
To answer your question
KC- Mahomes/Hill/Kelce/Jones
SEA - Metcalf/Wilson/Wagner/Adams
GB- Rodgers/Adams/Jones/Alexander
The running trend here is you need at least 4 elite guys to be a serious threat to win a SB with another group of 4 or 5 good players to go with them. The Bengals have Bates in the elite tier, and Reader could be one of those guys when he is healthy. You are then looking to Burrow and maybe a guy like Higgins or Mixon taking the next step. After that filling in with guys like a Lawson/Hubbard/Wilson/Boyd/ WJ3 could give you a group in the following tier. If you look at those teams they all have a QB and an elite weapon, that is what this team will need I think to make the jump and we have the potential for those on the roster.
I think the emergence of Higgins has been undersold a bit here, even though it is mentioned around here occasionally. If it weren't for Justin Jefferson having an insane year I think people would be talking nationally about how great a pick Higgins really was. He has outperformed Lamb/Jeudy/Ruggs/Reagor/Ayiuk up to this point and he has a shot this week to surpass 1k yards as a rookie. Had he been with a healthy Burrow all year there is no doubt he would have surpassed 1k yards on the year as he has really started showing some really good body control and tracking ability down the field lately.
