The Cincinnati Bengals boast a handful of notable winners and losers coming out of the 2020 NFL draft.
Whether it’s decision-makers, veterans who have some competition or prospects about to flourish, the 2020 draft did much to filter big names into the two columns.
After a widely-praised performance in the draft, these are the winners and losers before we look ahead to the summer.
Winner: Joe Burrow
Burrow’s been a winner for a long time now and he’s long had the adoration of the Cincinnati fanbase.
But how great was it for him to sit there and watch the Bengals use a premium pick on Tee Higgins? Now he’s going into an offense with A.J. Green, Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Joe Mixon, Giovani Bernard…and a top rookie wideout who models his game after A.J Green.
Good luck figuring out a better situation for a No. 1 rookie quarterback to enter. Cam Newton all those years ago maybe?
Loser: A.J. Green
On the other end of the Higgins spectrum is A.J. Green himself.
Green is set to make a cool $18 million or so on the franchise tag. But he’s an aging wideout without a long-term deal who just watched his team essentially grab a first-round wideout to jumpstart a new era.
Feel free to add in the fact there are already rumblings the 2021 wideout class could be even better than this year’s class. Still needing to prove he can stay healthy, Green’s in a spread-it-around attack with his possible replacement on the roster.
Winner: Duke Tobin
Tobin went buckwild the offseason and deserves all the credit he’s undoubtedly going to get.
Tobin and the front office spent $100 million-plus in free agency and on extensions before going to the draft and repeatedly attacking big needs, be it wideout or linebacker.
In the process, Tobin — and Zac Taylor — enacted a massive culture makeover. This feels like the actual first year of the reset.
Loser: John Ross
Ross probably isn’t getting his fifth-year option, right?
While the former first-round wideout showed some promise last year when actually given a chance, Ross still hasn’t done enough consistently enough to justify a guaranteed fifth year.
And if Ross is going to free agency, he’s probably gone with Higgins waiting. That’s especially the case if A.J. Green manages to get an extension before the summer deadline and can actually stay on the field.
Winner: Tee Higgins
How about Higgins himself?
The man who says he’s a Bengals fan fell right to his favorite team and now he gets to learn from the guy he idolizes and models his game after.
Higgins now has a chance to learn from the best, take his time doing so and has the opportunity to grow alongside one Joe Burrow in the process. While falling out of the first round isn’t ideal, landing at No. 33 isn’t so bad.
Loser: Jordan Evans
Say goodbye to any leftover linebackers.
This new coaching staff added Germaine Pratt last year, Josh Bynes in free agency and just added three more via the draft with Logan Wilson, Akeem Davis-Gaither and Markus Bailey.
Presumably, Jordan Evans is now likely on his way out the door along with other leftovers like Brady Sheldon. The new wave at the position is here and will cast aside the old.
Winner: Fans
It doesn’t get much better than this, right?
After an unexpectedly big role in free agency, the Bengals turned around and had a universally acclaimed draft class. Drafting Joe Burrow was easy — nailing the rest wasn’t.
Adding to this, the team has upped its communication quality with fans and is working hard on its image and general level of fan engagement as this new era begins.
New Dey, indeed.
Loser: Andy Dalton
Dalton didn’t just see his longtime team draft his replacement during the big event.
No, Dalton also watched as no team — such as the New England Patriots — tried to go hard after him via trade. And with at least Cam Newton still sitting out there on the open market and other big vacancies like the Dolphins and Chargers filled, there aren’t a ton of options.
This probably results in Dalton getting cut barring a restructure, and while it will be nice for him to get to choose where he goes, there don’t appear to be a ton of openings.
