9. Bengals lose top linemen, draft John Ross No. 9 overall
For the second year in a row, the Cincinnati Bengals watched top offensive starters walk (run?) away in free agency.
Following an AFC North-winning 12-4 season, they lost receivers Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones. It was hardly surprising that Andy Dalton threw for a career-low 18 touchdowns after losing two of his top targets.
Then this past offseason, Cincinnati lost offensive guard Kevin Zeitler to the Cleveland Browns and left tackle Andrew Whitworth to the Los Angeles Rams.
And this is after the Bengals had their worst season (6-9-1) in years.
Then during this past draft, Cincinnati opted to spend the No. 9 overall pick on oft-injured speedster receiver John Ross. By itself, that move was stunning. Some teams reportedly took Ross off their boards because of his history of being injured. There were plenty of other players that were left on the board at that time that would have been safer picks, and already Ross is dealing with an injury this offseason that could leak into training camp.
Making matters worse, the Bengals didn’t do anything to upgrade their offensive line.
In a year that we saw the rest of the AFC North take positive strides to get better, it was stunning to see the Bengals moving the other direction.