Why Having the First Pick Doesn't Matter for the Bengals

[Fan_in_Kettering]

With respect to the Cincinnati Bengals I'm usually very upbeat and optimistic so it's unusual for me to take such a Scrooge-like "BAH! HUMBUG!" approach to having the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.  Nornally I would be very excited like I was in 2003 but 17 years later I'm not so pumped.

Here's why:

I don't trust the Front Office nor do I believe in the coaches.  I think they'll blow the draft and think they won the lottery.  Jonah Williams turned out to be more than "dinged," Ryan Finley, well, that's a bust, Drew Sample was horrible -- and fragile too -- and only Germaine Pratt showed any positive progress among the rookies.  After the draft we heard things from Zac Taylor about "accountability" but the 1-14 record indicates a lack of accountability.  Players on offense are trying to apply incorrect technique to a bad scheme and players on defense get burned on the same pass plays every game so I'm sick of the false promises from the coaches.  They could ruin anybody.

So, therefore, the Bengals can pick first, fifth, eighteenth, or whatever.  No elite player can overcome bad coaching or a bad scheme. 

[Big Boss]

Fortunately, I expect Joe Burrow will outlast Zac Taylor's time with the Bengals when all is said and done. Burrow will be on a 5-year rookie deal, and Taylor may very well be gone in a year or two if things continue as they are. So barring a career-ending injury, we just have to hope that this staff doesn't set Burrow so far back that there's simply no recovering. And that's assuming he even pans out to begin with.

[Luvnit2]

Congrats to OP for taking away one positive we had in 2019, getting 7 rounds of drafting in the #1 slot.

It was horrible, but looking back, we played a lot of one or 2 possession games in 2019. I also think a rookie coach did a great job of keeping players playing hard all year, not easy to do when your playoffs are over by week 7.

I am an optimist by nature, so I help Burrow is the next coming of Drew Brees and Cam Newton combined. I hope we get AJ back on a team friendly deal and Jonah Williams is an instant star OT.

Yep, been a horrid year so hopefully we hit rock bottom and shock the NFL in 2020. No one will see it coming.

[*psychdoctor*]

I understand the well-deserved pessimism as of Bengals fan under the helm of Mike Brown.

As much as I loathe this front office particularly Mike Brown I must admit that this front office had the franchise in position to go far in the playoffs in 2005 and 2015.

In both cases the strength of the Bengals could be the offensive line. Drafting a quarterback with the overall number one pick without addressing adequately the offensive line would not improve things.

If the Bengals decide to go with Joe Burrow, then they most likely will have to get at least two IOL and one offensive tackle as well as bring in a free agent tackle. They will also need at least one wide receiver fairly early. This means they will not be able to fix the defense this year. They may get one linebacker and maybe if they're lucky a safety or cornerback.

They have to draft to protect the new quarterback this year and start fixing the defense next year.

It wouldn't hurt to bring in Bill Callahan and fire Jim Turner. Also sweet Lou may need to go. I don't think Zack Taylor will give up his offensive coordinator position easily but if he doesn't perform next year either he goes or he brings in somebody to call plays.

When it's all said and done it will take two to three years for the Bengals to be competitive and maybe by then Mike Brown will be retired.

[t3r3e3]

(12-23-2019, 03:53 PM)psychdoctor Wrote: I understand the well-deserved pessimism as of Bengals fan under the helm of Mike Brown.

As much as I loathe this front office particularly Mike Brown I must admit that this front office had the franchise in position to go far in the playoffs in 2005 and 2015.

In both cases the strength of the Bengals could be the offensive line. Drafting a quarterback with the overall number one pick without addressing adequately the offensive line would not improve things.

If the Bengals decide to go with Joe Burrow, then they most likely will have to get at least two IOL and one offensive tackle as well as bring in a free agent tackle. They will also need at least one wide receiver fairly early. This means they will not be able to fix the defense this year. They may get one linebacker and maybe if they're lucky a safety or cornerback.

They have to draft to protect the new quarterback this year and start fixing the defense next year.

It wouldn't hurt to bring in Bill Callahan and fire Jim Turner. Also sweet Lou may need to go. I don't think Zack Taylor will give up his offensive coordinator position easily but if he doesn't perform next year either he goes or he brings in somebody to call plays.

When it's all said and done it will take two to three years for the Bengals to be competitive and maybe by then Mike Brown will be retired.

Even though we bagged on his in game coaching, a lot of that positioning has to be Marvin. He was a shrewd talent evaluator. Zac Taylor, not so much...

[CJD]

(12-23-2019, 11:26 AM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: With respect to the Cincinnati Bengals I'm usually very upbeat and optimistic so it's unusual for me to take such a Scrooge-like "BAH! HUMBUG!" approach to having the first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.  Nornally I would be very excited like I was in 2003 but 17 years later I'm not so pumped.

Here's why:

I don't trust the Front Office nor do I believe in the coaches.  I think they'll blow the draft and think they won the lottery.  Jonah Williams turned out to be more than "dinged," Ryan Finley, well, that's a bust, Drew Sample was horrible -- and fragile too -- and only Germaine Pratt showed any positive progress among the rookies.  After the draft we heard things from Zac Taylor about "accountability" but the 1-14 record indicates a lack of accountability.  Players on offense are trying to apply incorrect technique to a bad scheme and players on defense get burned on the same pass plays every game so I'm sick of the false promises from the coaches.  They could ruin anybody.

So, therefore, the Bengals can pick first, fifth, eighteenth, or whatever.  No elite player can overcome bad coaching or a bad scheme. 

Hopefully, Sunday is Zac's last game as Bengals Head Coach.

His first draft was complete shit. But not as shit as his coaching and playcalling.

All around terrible coach.

[*Nately120*]

(12-24-2019, 08:40 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: Hopefully, Sunday is Zac's last game as Bengals Head Coach.

His first draft was complete shit. But not as shit as his coaching and playcalling.

All around terrible coach.

I hear ya.  If Burrow is really as good a prospect as we want to believe he is we should be using his presence to attempt to lure a better HC here which would in turn make it easier to get better coordinators to sign here.  I had a feeling ZT would be in over his head, but the guy is the HC for a franchise that has done a lot of losing, and yet in his first year he managed to set the record for most losses in a row and he's either going to tie or beat our all time worst record in franchise history.

It's baffling...the Bengals, a franchise that has lost so much in the past 30 years has found a way to lose even more the second ZT took over as HC.  Oof.  

But my main point is that coupling this whizzbang franchise-changing prospect at QB with our current coaching staff that doesn't even know how to cobble together an offense sounds like putting $10,000 rims on a 1988 Corsica.