Cincy beg to differ lol
*Incidentally, the WR philosophy that the OP is advocating would appear to be shared by Holmes given his affiliation with the Rams and their track record drafting WRs. It’s why I would’ve been shocked if we drafted a WR in the first, despite all the talk swirling around Chase, Smith and Waddle…
An organization that’s had a ton of success over the past 5 seasons.
| 2020 | NFL | Cincinnati Bengals | 4 | 11 | 1 | 4th of 4 | 311 | 424 | -113 | Taylor | Bates | Burrow | Mixon | Higgins | 29 | 29 | 22 | 26 | 25 | 28 | 29 | 32 | -7.1 | -0.4 | -7.5 | -5.4 | -2.1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | NFL | Cincinnati Bengals | 2 | 14 | 0 | 4th of 4 | 279 | 420 | -141 | Taylor | Atkins | Dalton | Mixon | Boyd | 30 | 26 | 25 | 29 | 29 | 30 | 30 | 32 | -8.8 | 1.5 | -7.3 | -4.4 | -2.9 | |
| 2018 | NFL | Cincinnati Bengals | 6 | 10 | 0 | 4th of 4 | 368 | 455 | -87 | Lewis | Mixon | Dalton | Mixon | Boyd | 17 | 26 | 30 | 32 | 15 | 26 | 31 | 32 | -5.4 | 2.0 | -3.4 | 0.0 | -3.4 | |
| 2017 | NFL | Cincinnati Bengals | 7 | 9 | 0 | 3rd of 4 | 290 | 349 | -59 | Lewis | Dalton | Dalton | Mixon | Green | 26 | 32 | 16 | 18 | 27 | 22 | 30 | 32 | -3.7 | -1.3 | -5.0 | -4.1 | -0.9 | |
| 2016 | NFL | Cincinnati Bengals | 6 | 9 | 1 | 3rd of 4 |
Anyway, before 2021, the Bengals best recent draft picks at WR were:
Tee Higgins, Rd 2, No. 33 overall in 2020
Tyler Boyd, Rd 2, No. 55 overall, in 2016
John Ross, Rd 1, No. 9 overall, in 2017, has largely been a bust.
the Rams did trade a late 1st round pick to get Brandin Cooks though… but who knows if Brad had any say in that decision.
Interesting to look back at that trade, since RMs could have drafted DJ Moore or Calvin Ridley with that pick.
Yeah I meant my them taking Chase this year. I really hope the Sewell pick haunts them. (We’re due for some luck)
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Gonna @BarrySanders20 since he was in on this topic…
AJ Green adds another layer to the Bengals history of drafting WRs in round 1.
Here is a view of his career stats:
I will admit I have not seen a ton of Bengals video over the years… because they really don’t get many televised games. Interesting to see how low his catch percentage is for a guy considered to be a top level WR.
He had Marvin Jones, Brandon LaFell, and Tyler Boyd as complimentary WRs over the years.
How good is AJ Green???
He has averaged 9 targets per game over his career… so he has had HUGE opportunity.
But… I kind of had a weird thought.
Look at the 1 season that Tyrell Williams got over 100 targets… and he compared pretty well to the “average” AJ Green season.
Green averaged 113 targets per year… Williams got 119 targets in 2016.
Green has averaged 65 catches per year. Williams had 69 catches.
Yards per catch… Green was at 14.5 for career… TW is had 15.3 ypc.
Green has averaged 6.5 TDs per year… Williams had 7 TDs.
Green caught 57.4% of his targets per year… Williams got 58% in 2016.
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Wasn’t Andre Johnson from Miami?
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AJ Green was an absolute stud early in his career.
I agree.
AJ Green is CLEARLY a superior talent to Tyrell Williams.
I just like to show the how the opportunity and volume can change how we might look at a player.
Tyrell was always getting minimal targets because Keenan Allen was the #1 guy… and then Tyrell had a pretty good year when he got some targets in volume. Even in 2019… Tyrell started strong for the Raiders before he had his plantar fasciitis issue. Obviously… he needs to stay healthy… but I think he has flown under the radar a bit as well.
I was surprised we got him as cheap as we did… especially as a guy that didn’t factor into the comp pick formula.
Yes he was (from Miami and went to school in Miami).
That is why that rule has to be loose. Not really a rule at all but a concern. That is why I mentioned LeBron James who was pretty good in Cleveland.
Rogers’s issues were mostly related to his lack of a work ethic.
I just want to take a second to put Andre Johnson, Miami and the Texans into perspective. The brass with the Texans said they picked Johnson for more than just looking like he might be a talented football player. They said they fell in love with his work ethic and they trusted the general work ethic that was instilled in players at Miami at the time. They were basically being trained to be pros in college, so they came out pro ready. Those comments from the Texans at the time certainly apply to Johnson, but they also nailed the overall assessment of Miami players from that time period. I’m not sure if they do it any more, but I remember back then former Miami players in the NFL used to go back to school on a regular basis and participate in practice, the weight room, meetings, etc and light a fire under the current Canes players and show them what was possible if they keep working hard (and playing hard, of course).
What’s funny is that as dominant as Alabama has been over the last decade+, they still can’t match the success of Miami players from that era in the NFL. Teams keep drafting Alabama players early at a record pace…but they still fall short of “The U” in terms of results.
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I still maintain that if Rogers never gets injured he would’ve been a star. At least for a time. He likely wouldn’t have handled stardom particularly well.
To be a star with those sorry ass Lions teams would have took something special (like Barry and Calvin). But I went to school with Rogers and knowing his habits in college (along with how he couldn’t even play when he first got to MSU, I think it was called Prop 48 back then) I’m going to say Rogers didn’t really have what it took to be a long term star in the NFL. It wasn’t really about the injuries, although the injuries probably turned a Roy Williams type career into a complete bust who’s entire life fell apart. All Rogers really knew was dysfunction. The dysfunction of Saginaw, the period of dysfunction at MSU and then he went to a dysfunctional Lions team.
With the benefit of hindsight Rogers really needed to go to an established team with structure, accountability and the ability to show Rogers a different way of life other than dysfunction.
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That’s likely true. The Ravens trade up and take Rogers and perhaps things are different. My main point was that he was indeed number 2OA talented. It just didn’t work out.
- megaton
- Tyrell Williams
- Stafford
Great post!
So I look at defense as a counter to offense, and offense usually sets the tempo.
A solid and deep OL is where it really starts and ends. Having 2 completely capable RBs trumps one freak- see Saints vs Giants or Panthers…
An accurate QB who doesn’t lose games, can win them at times, and limits mistakes. Tempo and durability are huge.
A threat in the seem is a mismatch, and that stops the deep safety from always shadowing your #1 outside threat…
See above RB comment- additionally the dual threat guys offer a cheap 4-5 yards when plays otherwise break down.
A slot with wiggle and slash speed, a premium route runner with hands, and a blazing deep threat…
Goff-
Swift/Williams
Hock/Fells
Adams
Diggs
Landry
I realize the last 3 guys aren’t on our team, but how good would that corps make our offenses.
I wouldn’t be shocked to see St Brown fill that Landry role.
So if we can peel a stud WR1 next year in round 2 and sign a deep threat we have that completely balance offense.
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My point is that Rogers failure was predictable–the red flags were there well before the draft. The worst GM in the history of pro sports ignored them and the Lions paid the price.
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I was focusing more on recent drafts where at least 3 of the last 5 were loaded at WR thereby making it unnecessary to take a WR in the top 20.
Anyway, going back to 2011, looking back, it’s amazing how badly Mayhew screwed up that draft (his worst by far):