Not sure if this is new news, but Bengals fared best out of logjam of 7-9 teams.

From the Enquirer site:


By virtue of their weak schedule, the Bengals will draft ninth in April, the NFL announced this afternoon.

The Bengals were one of seven teams to finish 7-9, but they were the worst of the 7-9 teams based on their strength of schedule. Bengals opponents had a winning percentage of .461 with a composite 118-138 record.

No. 9 is the highest the Bengals have drafted in five seasons that Marvin Lewis has overseen as head coach.

They were first overall in the 2003 draft (Carson Palmer) as the result of compiling the NFL's worst record, 2-14, in Dick LeBeau's last season as coach.

Under Lewis, the Bengals have earned the Nos. 17 (traded down twice to No. 26, 2004), 17, 24 and 18 picks in the past four years.

Besides Palmer, the Bengals have drafted running back Chris Perry, linebacker David Pollack and cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph and Leon Hall under Lewis’ direction.

posted by Mark at 1:46 PM 0 comments