The Bengals Should be Open To This Idea

Joe Burrow, LSU Quarterback

  The Cincinnati Bengals finished the NFL season 2-14, the worst in the NFL, earning them the first overall pick of the draft in April.

It is almost a sure thing that the Bengals will draft the Heisman-winning, national champion, Ohio native Joe Burrow who just had a historic college football season and really closing on the chapter of the Marvin Lewis-era in Cincinnati,  moving on from former Pro Bowl quarterback Andy Dalton. The Bengals obviously have plenty of needs on a team that just went 2-14, while quarterback isn't the biggest on the team, it's always a bonus to get the best one in the draft because it helps to rejuvenate the fan base and help create/change culture in the organization. However, if the Bengals draft Joe Burrow and choose to move on from Dalton, they have to think about depth.

In 2019, the Bengals drafted Ryan Finley, from North Carolina State, in the Fourth round and he won the backup job in his rookie season. Going into this season it wasn't sure what Finley was going to be on the team. There were a few possibilities: A career backup quarterback, an understudy of Andy Dalton for a few years, a mid-season starter. We found out when things got really bad for the team exactly what he would be -- A quarterback to see what we would need in the next draft -- Finley started a total of three games for the Bengals completing 41 of 87 passes for 474 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, resulting in 3 losses. The Ryan Finley experiment was cut short before going back to Andy Dalton as he would lead the team to it's first win against the New York Jets.

As I think about the possibility for Finley's growth with the organization. Also, I think about depth. In 2012 the Washington Redskins had drafted former Heisman winner Robert Griffin III with the second overall selection. While Griffin was the talk of College Football that year, Washington also thought about the draft from a different angle -- depth and drafting the best player available -- one the Bengals should be open to. In April, if the Bengals go in the direction of Joe Burrow, they [Bengals] should be willing to draft another quarterback in one of the later rounds (with plans of trading Dalton). I am not saying that I don't believe Burrow is going to fail. I am saying that you don't know what will happen so you should think about depth! It worked out for the Redskins because Robert Griffin III sustained career-changing injuries and Washington luckily drafted former Michigan State quarterback, Kirk Cousins in the fourth round. Cousins played himself into a contract in 2018 which guaranteed him $84 Million over 3 years.

While I don't know what the future would hold for Burrow in Cincinnati, neither does anyone else.

They always say "the most important position on an NFL team is the quarterback". However, I believe that we have grown to learn that it is the actually the quarterback available to play! The Bengals should be open to drafting the best players available in April, even if it means selecting more than one quarterback.

Current quarterbacks on the Bengals roster: Andy Dalton, Ryan Finley, Jake Dolegala.

John Brannen Has The Opportunity at Something Mick Cronin Never Really Did in Cincinnati

 

John Brannen is in his first season as the head coach at the University of Cincinnati, after former coach Mick Cronin made the decision to depart for the head coaching spot at the University of California Las Angeles (UCLA) in April 2019. Brannen was announced as the new head coach soon after Cronin had announced that he would be taking the UCLA job.

Cronin was the head coach of the Bearcats for 13 seasons -- 2006-2019 -- where he would finish with a record of 270-147, which included 2 regular season conference championships (2013-14, 20178-18) and two conference tournament championships (2017-18, 2018-19). Also, probably most notable, Cronin led the Bearcats to the NCAA tournament 9 consecutive seasons. *Side Note: In his first 7 seasons with the Bearcats they were in the Big East Conference, in 2013 they joined the American Athletic Conference).

John Brannen is the former coach of Northern Kentucky University Norse, where he accumulated a record of 114-51. While it's a bit of difference from coaching in the Horizon League (NKU) to the American Athletic Conference (UC) it's probably most impressive that he took a club that won 9 games in his first season to a 24-win team in his second season and made the NCAA tournament in 2 of his final 3 seasons at NKU.

Brannen replacing Cronin made sense. He was an up-and-coming coach, they didn't have to search far and wide, he was likely going to cost them less money than a big-time established head coach and he is a local guy (from Kentucky). And as it was announced that he would be the next head coach for the Bearcats a lot of people wondered about his recruiting ability and if he would be able to get the current players to "buy-in" to his system which is offensive driven, opposite of Mick Cronin's coaching style which was very defensive minded. However, it seems Brannen has the ability to do something that Cronin wasn't ever going to do. And that thing is: live outside the shadows of former University of Cincinnati head coach Bob Huggins. In Cincinnati Bob Huggins for the University of Cincinnati was, to a lot of people, the heart of the team. Huggins was a fan favorite for the most part and had his way with the media. After 16 seasons with the Bearcats it didn't seem like Huggins was ever going to leave after the legacy he had built with the institution. Huggins had brought the University the most excitement and success the institution had since the 1960's and their most final 4 appearance in 1992. Huggins was forced to resigned from the University of Cincinnati late in the summer of 2005. Huggins at the University of Cincinnati finished with a record of 398-128.

Cronin had replaced interim head coach Andy Kennedy after he coached for one season at UC.

When Cronin was named the head coach at the University it still seemed that people still were looking to have the same type of basketball and level of success as they had under Huggins, they wanted the same type of recruits and mostly they wanted Huggins; when Brannen was hired, I didn't get that from the fans nor the media. It seems that fans are just wanting to see him [Brannen] develop as a coach and continue to build the program and hopefully, eventually, make it to the second weekend (sweet 16/ Elite 8) of the NCAA tournament. Brannen has less expectations to have the program where Huggins once had it than Cronin did in my opinion, based upon what I've heard from fans. The main thing that I believe has led to this is ... Time

Brannen is further removed in time of Huggins' departure from Cincinnati than Cronin was and it made it harder for fans to have less expectations and it makes sense. But my questions is: What does he [Brannen] do with the ability to start a clean slate of expectations at the University of Cincinnati?

The Bearcats currently have a record of  8-6.