Ive been seeing this line of reasoning a lot lately and I disagree. The premise of the relative positional values in R1/R2 is fair, but the bengals weapons “need” is not even remotely close to the need caused by their abysmal line.bjd5211 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:11 amIt is a need, but I think a combo of Chase/Fields + early 2nd round OL would have a bigger impact for the offense and Burrow than Sewell + 2nd round WR/TE. I understand either viewpoint, but I think the drop off from Chase or Pitts to the late 1st/early 2nd round receivers is bigger than the drop off from Sewell to the late 1st/early 2nd OLs.murphysxm wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:03 amWhile I think the team need is so strong for OL help, this makes some serious sensebjd5211 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 02, 2021 8:17 am Sewell, Pitts or Chase would all be phenomenal picks for Cincy and a strong argument could be made for any of them. The best case scenario for Cincy would be QBs going 1-4 and then trading down to 8 with Carolina who would be protecting themselves from getting jumped for the 5th, and then Cincy takes the likely remainder of those 3 players and getting extra draft capital.
Boyd and Higgins are both going to top 1000 yards this year if they stay healthy and they also have Mixon/Bernard in the backfield. That group of weapons is definitely reasonable and should allow burrow to be successful as a year 2 QB. It certainly won’t be a huge limiting factor in his growth/development.
On the other hand, their line was ranked 31st this last year by PFF, and was a large reason burrow tore up his leg. Burrow took 32 sacks (t-2nd most) and 42 quarterback hits (t-5th most) over the first 11 weeks of the season...
The line simply cannot be fixed with a late R1/or early R2 guy. The bengals need an all pro level talent in Sewell + even more help in upcoming drafts to remotely address the issue. If they don’t pick Sewell if given the opportunity at 5 then they are practicing total negligence and setting a terrible precedent for how they aim to protect their franchise QB in the future.