The Draft, 1st Round

[Stripes]

Bing would be nice him,williams+ oneal omg that would be sweet....

Though hopfully pope,lewis or davis would fall to #52....ya right lol

A draft related post by Kazkal that doesn't include Haloti Ngata?!

[NJ29]

Bing would be nice him,williams+ oneal omg that would be sweet....

Though hopfully pope,lewis or davis would fall to #52....ya right lol

A draft related post by Kazkal that doesn't include Haloti Ngata?!

Don't be too amazed. He did mention Leonard Pope. If you look carefully, that's in all of his draft posts, too.

[jjakq27]

According to Bengals.com, today is exactly 100 days until the draft.

[NJ29]

Wow. I'm way to worked up and way too early.

[Whur CHad At?]

Draft Ko Simpson....nuff said there.

[Kazkal]

Bing would be nice him,williams+ oneal omg that would be sweet....

Though hopfully pope,lewis or davis would fall to #52....ya right lol

A draft related post by Kazkal that doesn't include Haloti Ngata?!

Don't be too amazed. He did mention Leonard Pope. If you look carefully, that's in all of his draft posts, too.

Just in my recent ones

I've came to terms that there is no way we get ngata because even if he still needs work he'd never fall a mammoth like him whos just not a hog but has speed just is something you don't pass on him

/snivles why all this hate Pope is a dawg just trying unite him with pollack and thurman

[bengalsLB]

Draft Ko Simpson....nuff said there.

he won't be there

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Huff is projected to go in the teens now and his stock is rising. I seriously doubt he'll be there for the Bengals.

Don't rule out the possibility of the Bengals' picking a center. With the money they have invested in Palmer - and his injury to boot - I think it's more of a priority than we might think.

I suppose FA will dictate this - but can see the 1st pick going to either the d or o lines.

[NJ29]

Draft Ko Simpson....nuff said there.

he won't be there

It's a possibility. It is a very deep safety class, which could keep him on the board, but the safeties are being hyped a lot this year, which could take them off of the board pretty quickly.

[DesperateDerelict]

Don't rule out the possibility of the Bengals' picking a center. With the money they have invested in Palmer - and his injury to boot - I think it's more of a priority than we might think.

That's why we got Guy-check & Wilkerson - thinking ahead. The team realizes they need to think ahead 2 - 3 years, and select 'project' or 'potential' players. Therefore, look for them to invest later round picks this year in OG, maybe OT, and CB.

With the depth of SS and TE in this years draft, I can see Tobin and Marvin and Mikey trying to get lucky in Rounds 2 and 3 with these positions, looking for a 'flawed' diamond in the rough (ala Odell and Chris Henry). RB and QB are also strong this year, but we have little / no need.

By process of elimination, I see us taking a 'sure bet' DL -

DT's - A few possibles:

Ngata - should be top 10, maybe top 5.

Gabe Watson - love those Michigan kids

Wroten (although he now has baggage - he can room with Henry)

R. Wright - huge underachiever

Bunkley (I think he's too light, but he might be 'bulkable')

O. Harris - I want to see his Wonderlic score first

J. Maholena (NC ST) - depends on workouts

DE's - harder to come by

M. Williams / Kiwi - unless they screw up between now and the draft, they'll be long gone.

T. Hali - Opinions vary widely

Dumervil - If he's fast enough, he's an NFL OLB in the 3 - 4, not a DE.

K. Wimbley (FSU) - Can help himself alot at the Combine

Lawson - (NC St) - Did he make Mario, or did Mario make him?

However, until the Combine in February, we won't know who the NFL-ready players will be!

It's a possibility. It is a very deep safety class, which could keep him on the board, but the safeties are being hyped a lot this year, which could take them off of the board pretty quickly.

Safeties are hyped every year, but NFL teams do NOT like to invest top picks in safeties - that's not to say that too many of these guys will be available at the end of the 2nd round, but fewer safeties are chosen in the 1st round than any other defensive position! (look it up!)

[kurgan74]

Another interesting TE canidate would be Auburn's Anthony Mix. He played both TE and WR for the Tigers. He is projected as a TE in the draft 6'5 250. He has nice speed and very good hands. I have ssen some projecting him between rounds 4 & 6. He could be a real steal later in the draft, if the Bengals go defensive early on. This year he had 23 catches for 288 yards (3rd on the team in catches) and averaged 12.5 yards per catch.

[schweinhart]

The team need vs. best available debate is proly inevitable at this point.

There are a bunch of servicable safeties in this year's draft and the best of the bunch minus 1 or 2 will be there with the Bengals 1st pick.

Also a strength of this draft is TE and OT. Maybe the 3rd best TE is there and the 4th, 5th, or 6th best OT prospect. But the strongest position is LB -- both outside and inside. A really, really good LB could be had at this pick.

The weak positions of this draft for 1st round picks looks to me like DTs, WRs, and C overall and past the top 2 or 3, DE and CB.

[HairOnFire]

The team need vs. best available debate is proly inevitable at this point.

Then let's get started.

IMHO drafting the so-called best player available is just an example of coachspeak, because whether they admit it or not all teams adjust and weight their draft boards with team needs in mind.

For those who disagree, just look at last years Bengal draft. Not only was it highly successful, it was a perfect example of a very hungry coaching staff placing their orders directly off the menu. No substitutions. No special orders. And with very few exceptions, if any at all, that's has been the way it's gone since Marvin arrived.

[DesperateDerelict]

Any chance that the board - meisters around here with alot of time on their hands can emulate the Redskins or Saints mock draftboards? We could have something that looks like this:

MOCK DRAFT....................DATE.........PROJECTED CIN 1ST ROUNDER....COLLEGE

FantasyFootballXTreme........1/17...............Marcedes Lewis (TE).................UCLA

QI Sports..............................1/17..............Brodrick Bunkley (DT)................FSU

Draft TX.com.........................1/16.............Claude Wroten (DT)....................LSU

Heard's Football Report.........1/16.............Darnell Bing (S).........................USC

Draft Daddy..........................1/16..............Rod Wright (DT)........................TEXAS

HuddleGeeks........................1/16..............Rod Wright (DT)........................TEXAS

East Coast Sports.................1/16..............Tamba Hali (DE).......................PENN ST

Draft Ace...............................1/14..............Claude Wroten (DT).....................LSU

The Football Experts.............1/14..............Marcedes Lewis (TE)..................UCLA

Friendly Bet...........................1/12..............Elvis Dumervil (DE)..................LOUISVILLE

FF Toolbox.............................1/12..............Jesse Mahelona (DT)...................TEN

Football Futures.....................1/12..............Jesse Mahelona (DT)...................TEN

Walters Football.....................1/12..............Gabe Watson (DT)....................U of MICH

Obviously, I have neither the time nor the talent . . . . .

[Kazkal]

Forgot what post it was but who ever worries if SS doesn't have best times take a look @ madieu's

AGILITY TESTS

4.5 in the 40-yard dash (indoor track) … 4.6 in the 40-yard dash (outdoors) … 345-pound bench press … 560-pound squat … 36½-inch vertical jump … 31¼-inch arm length … 9-inch hands.

and he's 100% stud

[schweinhart]

IMHO drafting the so-called best player available is just an example of coachspeak, because whether they admit it or not all teams adjust and weight their draft boards with team needs in mind.

For those who disagree, just look at last years Bengal draft. Not only was it highly successful, it was a perfect example of a very hungry coaching staff placing their orders directly off the menu. No substitutions. No special orders. And with very few exceptions, if any at all, that's has been the way it's gone since Marvin arrived.

There's no question that teams draft with team needs in mind. But the final consideration of best player available in the 1st round should bear more weight than immediate position need because that pick can also be instrumental in addressing future needs beyond that draft year or the year after that. The BPA pick makes more sense later in the round when the "sure things" at the costliest positions are pretty much off the board.

Not to suggest redundancy at position and the pick that comes to mind recently was Larry Johnson by the Chiefs when they already had Priest Holmes. The closest Bengals example would be Chris Perry in 2004. No doubt the Bengals needed an RB in the exodus of Dillon and the moving on of Brandon Bennett, but Rudi was there as was Kenny Watson. From a standpoint of team need -- for a team still in the middle of wholesale turnover on the defensive side of the ball I might add -- burning a 1st rounder on an RB simply did not support that immediate team need was given the foremost priority in the 1st round. Did they need a 3rd RB? Yes, but in the 1st round? They took who they thought was the best player available at a position of possible future need.