NFL: No matter the cost, keep your best defensive players

[Auggie]

Even at the expense of your starting offensive skill players -- wideouts, backs, and TEs -- positions that while not necessarily always easy to replace exactly can be replaced adequately enough to field a winning team.

49ers traded DT DeForest Buckner in 2020 because they couldn't afford to keep him. He wanted literally a mint to stay, but he was young, healthy, and his presence on the line made Nick Bosa and Dee Ford even more of a pass rushing force.*

It starts in the trenches and filters down.

*Don't want to hear about injuries—i'm talking big picture.

[JT45242]

1. I would say offensive line exhibits 1& 2 Bengas of 1980s and the 2010s

The Bengals have had two extended runs of success -- the 1981-1991 and 2010-2016.

What ended both of them -- going cheap on the offensive line and letting guys go in free agency.

The Kenny Anderson (who should be in the HOF)/Boomer Esiason Bengals of the 80s fell apart when they got cheap and lost Max Montoya to plan B free agency. After that, the team stopped winning.

The 2010s Bengals had a great team -- until they let left tackle Whitmore and Guard Zeitler leave in free agency because they didn't want to pay them so that they could pay the D-line and a fragile AJ Green.

As many teams before discovered, no QB is good when knocked on their butt all the time and they went from 5 straight playoff appearances to dreadful in short order. The tackle helped the Rams get to the super bowl. The Bengals whiffed on several drafts of replacing those guys on the offensive line and have been bad for 5 years because of it.

It does start in the trenches, but if you cannot protect your QB, they get hit a lot, they get squirrely feet and innaccurate throws,, and they get hurt (see Dak last year, the same Andy Dalton behind the bad lines of the Bengals, the Bears QBs, Darnold with the Jets).

[Auggie]

2. Oh yeah ...

the blindside OT. Arguably the most important position after the quarterback.

Average running backs will succeed with great blocking, schemes, and coaching. Paying them a fortune is a mistake. Wideouts too, especially.

The average fan will grumble when they’re traded away because media hypes ball handlers. But it’s the trenches that win games.

Browns trading for Odell Beckham two years ago was a classic mistake. I’ll beat this dead horse till my dying day.

[Best_man23]

7. Also look at Miami for the 2021 Exhibit of the importance of a good OL

First, you have to build one, and Miami has not had a good offensive line for a LONG time. Only the short run of the "unicorns" in 2016 (Branden Albert, Laremy Tunsil, Mike Pouncey, Jermon Bushrod, and Ja'wan James) was anything approaching a "good OL, and even that line got Ryan Tannekill's knee injured.

This year, they made several mistakes both on and off the field on the OL (and the entire offense for that matter). First, they dismissed Chan Gailey as the offensive coordinator, and then failing to hire an experienced coordinator, they named two assistants as "Co-Coordinators". Miami then hired an OL assistant from Seattle (a team not known for its stellar OL play) as a first time offensive line coach. They also hired a coach Tua Tagovailoa had in college as his QB coach.

On the field, they traded Erik Flowers to the Washington Football Team in a swap of late round draft picks. Flowers has since graded out as one of the top OL for WFT. During training camp, they released Jermaine Eluemunor during their cut down from 85 players. Eluemunor is now a starting OG for the first place Las Vegas Raiders. In April, they drafted Liam Eichenberg, a LT who they immediately tried to start at RT, then LG, and finally were forced to put him back at his natural LT position because the one they drafted last year with the 18th pick (Austin Jackson) has severely regressed. They moved Jackson to LG two weeks ago, and his performance so far as been spotty at best. They are playing a journeyman at RT (Jesse Davis), who in week 2 completely whiffed the block on a Bills DE that resulted in the hit that fractured Tua's ribs. Across the Miami offensive line, they have a grand total of 9 years' experience. For an in-division comparison, the Bills OL has a combined 29 years of player experience.

The result has been evident each week on the field in the forms of poor game planning and adjustment, poor communication of plays to the QBs, a nearly nonexistent running game (they also passed on drafting Najee Harris this year), the need to employ a short to medium passing game because QBs have less than 2 seconds to get rid of the ball, and unimaginative offensive schemes. Its also resulted in mistakes that have had game altering consequences, like this play from week 3.

Its no surprise the Dolphins are currently 1-6 (will likely be 1-7 after Sunday's Inquisition in Buffalo), and I frankly don't see them winning more than 3-4 games the rest of the way no matter who is under center for them. I also see these decisions likely resulting in an early Black Monday firing of Brian Flores, who at the end of last season was a top candidate for Coach of the Year.

The Bengals last year learned an expensive lesson in Joe Burrow's knee injury of the need to protect your young QB. I'm hoping Tua is able to get a line in front of him, or ends up going somewhere that has a good OL.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

8. The Bengals didn't learn their lesson entirely...

... because their offensive line is still their lowest-graded unit on the team per the analytics of Pro Football Focus (PFF).

Joe Burrow currently has PFF's highest grade for this season, among all Bengals players, and he's been helped by his skills of not getting rattled and good pocket awareness to overcome some of the OL shortcomings. Receivers getting quick separation from defenders have helped a lot too.

The Bengals upgraded their defense immensely with free agents, which is bizarre behavior for them because owner Mike Brown has been stubborn about building a team around the drafts. That might've worked out fairly well for his father, Paul Brown, but their draft picks out of college have too often been duds after Paul died.

Yet they're still in very good shape, in terms of salary cap. They just don't lead the NFL in salary cap space this year, like they often do, but they're still near the top in room to spend.

If they can acquire some proven blockers in free agency next year, they should do it. "Joe Cool" has avoided another serious injury so far this season, but their turnaround season will be fruitless if it happens yet again. Seems to me like a question of when it happens, rather than if, unless the Bengals front office takes it more seriously.

[JT45242]

3. 90s cowboys show great O-line with good RB and QB and make them look great

No one thinks that Emmitt Smith is an all time great talent at RB -- way behind all the guys that he has more yards than. But that schem with a gret o-line and FB made him a record setter. It made a good but not great Aikman into the hall of fame.

[AZProgressive]

4. Well I'm glad the Cardinals added JJ Watt

I’m also glad the Cardinals have Deandre Hopkins, AJ Green, Christian Kirk, and Rondale Moore. It got to the point that Larry Fitzgerald is not playing this year. However, their running backs are average.

Not sure how much talent the Cardinals can keep when they resign Kyler Murray.

Speaking of O-line the Cardinals adding C Rodney Hudson who is injured right now helped out a lot because they had a bad O line last year.

Edit: the Sun Devils are missing players like Brandon Aiyuk this year

[Auggie]

6. "The Sun Devils are missing players like Brandon Aiyuk this year"

So are the 49ers

I think the best approach to WRs are to trade for disgruntled players or sign older free agents. Reason: they've already mastered downfield blocking, routes, and catching the damn ball. There are exceptions since youth and speed are imperative. Need a mix of both on the roster. Just don't spend a fortune.

Time to let Fitzgerald go for the reasons I've stated upthread. Ironic, because its counter to what I just wrote. But now it's about the money ($11,000,000). It's tough -- like when the 49ers let go of Jerry Rice. But it was the right thing to do. Fitzgerald is 38.

Congrats on what is looking like a fine season. NFC West is a two-team race. Will be fun to watch it unfold.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

5. The guys in the trenches are extremely important.

It's a team sport, though, and having talented "skill players" is very important too.

Joe Burrow lifted a pretty weak Athens high school team all the way to Ohio's title game (for that division) when he was a senior, but it was indeed one of the stronger and faster "big-city" schools that finally beat them.

I'm still wondering if and when the Bengals OL will prematurely end Burrow's NFL career.

They really need to focus on building a stronger OL, especially, in the coming years.