Should the Bengals be tanking?

The easy explanation is that the Bengals are just bad. The o-line is bad, the coaching staff is bad, the d-line is beat up and aging, etc.

But so much of what Zac Taylor and company are doing these days makes you scratch your head and wonder: what are they doing?

Zac’s a smart guy. Or at least he plays one on TV. At the very least, he knows enough about how the NFL works to not do a lot of what he’s doing— angering veterans, activating and deactivating wide receivers and then not utilizing them when they get a chance, calling for a backup fullback to pick up a first down in a critical situation, making no adjustments against the Indianapolis Colts as Philip Rivers shreds the defense.

Bengals Captain - the biggest Taylor supporter you’ll find - came on our show in the offseason and said he was confident that the head coach wasn’t always calling plays to win. “When you look at some of the plays, there’s no way he was giving one hundred percent,” Conley said.

That made sense late last season when it became crystal clear that we needed a QB and Joe Burrow was about to be made available. But this year?

Look, the Bengals have a lot of holes. With the way Duke Tobin and company evaluate offensive linemen, they’d need about five Drafts to fix that position alone. But the Bengals invested heavily in free agents. They have a QB who wants to learn how to win in the NFL as soon as possible. Sure they weren’t winning the Super Bowl this year, but a 7-9 season with a few close losses would have built team chemistry and perhaps prepared them to take a big step in 2021.

Furthermore, the biggest prizes of the upcoming Draft are quarterbacks, more specifically Trevor Lawrence. And the Bengals have found their QB, a perfect fit in terms of disposition and awareness. Burrow’s thrived because he creates plays, not because of any favors Taylor’s done him with his playcalling. Not even every can’t-miss QB prospect can do what he’s doing.

Still, Brown loves good deals and Draft capital. Perhaps the idea is, be in position to Draft Lawrence and then trade that pick away for a heist. While, at his point of my Bengals fandom, I wouldn’t put anything past Brown, the theory is still far-fetched, though I would like to hear from you, the readers.