jjakq27 Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 The Enquirer had a good article yesterday about Bill and Duke Tobin and how they have improved the Bengals scouting of college prospects. Bill Tobin basically built the Bears team of the mid-80's.The one quote that caught my attention was the following. "The Bengals traded before and during the draft, securing 11 picks, including eight in the first four rounds. They had nine picks in 2003. And 19 of the 20 picks, with the exception of cornerback Dennis Weathersby, might be on the 53-man roster come September. " What a turnover of personnel that would be. That goes to show how crappy the process must have been before ML.http://bengals.enquirer.com/2004/08/15/ben1b.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wookie Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 It was, but they still found some diamonds...Chad Johnson, Rudi Johnson, Willie Anderson, Brian Simmons, Justin Smith...all of these guys were pre-Lewis, so they did have some succcess in the draft, just not as much as Lewis has had in his NFL career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakq27 Posted August 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 They definitely have had success with some of the guys you mention but look at the fallout rate of the mid rounders and even the first through third rounders. Too many reaches like Artrell Hawkins and Lamont Thompson that could have been had at a lower round. The good teams seem to get production from players at the lower rounds and until lately that hasn't happened much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wookie Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 Dillon was probably the last lower round pick to do well, and I wasn't sticking up for the drafting at all. I remember all too well the Big Daddy Wilkinsons and the Akili Smiths, and David Klinglers, et cetera. The scouting was horrific, and player development was worse. Who knows what Klingler or any other player could have been with the proper development? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjakq27 Posted August 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 Dillon was probably the last lower round pick to do well, and I wasn't sticking up for the drafting at all. I remember all too well the Big Daddy Wilkinsons and the Akili Smiths, and David Klinglers, et cetera. The scouting was horrific, and player development was worse. Who knows what Klingler or any other player could have been with the proper development? Yep Dillon was a good pick. They seem to have success with guys in round 2. They have drafted guys like Boomer, Ickey Woods, Carl Pickens and Chad Johnson that have become stars. But the painful part is when they have completely missed with guys in the first round. James Francis instead of Emmitt Smith, Klingler instead of Troy Vincent, Big Daddy instead of Marshall Faulk, KiJana over Tony Boselli and of course Akili instead of 8 picks from NO...Hopefully those days are over and smart picks with good player development afterwards will continue. I am glad to see that things have improved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TippCityRick Posted August 17, 2004 Report Share Posted August 17, 2004 Most coaches have said that player development is much more important than drafting. The reason Marvin has overhauled so much is that so many of the players he inherited had no development. As he says, "They draft 'em and it's my job to coach 'em up." Well, now we see how well he and his staff can coach. With the advent of the hard cap and free agency, coaching is the most important element in a football team. Luckily it seems that Mikey has finally figured that one out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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