HoosierCat

Bill Tobin, RIP https://www.bengals.com/news/bill-tobin-cincinnati-bengals-player-personnel-executive-lions-general-manger-bears-colts

Seems like they have a starting corner go down every year, so I doubt Arnold would be riding the bench. If he’s there, I would bet my bank balance he’s the pick (note my bank balance is like $12 so…). I wouldn’t be thrilled with the pick but I get it. Hard to pass up the value there. Murphy or Latham would be my top two as well. I can make the case for either and would be happy either way. Not into any WR unless there’s an unexpected fall by one of the top three. A lot of analysts think Fautanu is a guard at the next level. Orlando-Fautanu-Karras-Cappa-Trent looks pretty good on paper to me. But do you take a guard at 18? I could see it depending on how things fall. I’d rather address it later and take a tackle who can step in when Trent inevitably gets dinged, but that may not be an option. But I could be okay with Fautanu.

If you go back and look at mocks from late 23, Latu was going a lot higher than he is now. But as the top half of the drift got littered with more QBs and OTs he was one of the guys who fell. Same with Kool-Aid, he was the first or second corner off the board for a long time, now he’s bottom of the first.

Yeah, I was trying to game that out yesterday during some downtime at work. Just looking at various mocks and rankings, it seems like we can expect all of the following to be gone before the Bengals pick. QB: (4) Williams, McCarthy, Maye, Daniels WR: (3) Harrison Jr., Nabers, Odunze OT: (2) Alt, Fashanu TE: (1) Bowers DE: (1) Turner CB: (2) Arnold, Mitchell That’s 13 spots, so the question is, who are the four other guys that go before we get to 18? Latu and/or Verse? Three DEs have gone in the top 17 picks in both of the last two drafts, and both these guys are legit first-round prospects. Fuaga, Latham and Fautanu? Pete Schrager’s mock Tuesday at nfl.com had the nightmare scenario for Bengals fans, with Fuaga, Latham and Fautanu going 14, 15 and 16. Murphy/Newton? I can see both there at 18, but to echo Amphar, do all the teams in front of the Bengals pass on the top DT prospect in favor of the No. 4 or 5 OT prospect? Cooper DeJean? He’s gotten dinged in the rankings due to injury but some analysts like him more than Mitchell, so maybe he (or Mitchell) are still there. Thomas (or insert WR you like better here)? Even worse than OT you are down to the No. 4 WR by pick 14, so I can see whoever that guy is still there at 18. And then there are the interior OL guys like Powers-Johnson. They still pop up above 18 here and there. I have no answers, only guesses, and no one cares about those. All I know is that picks 14-17 are going to be nailbiters.

First round DT has always been a hard sell in the FO, and the last time they said yes they got the Big Daddy drama. They're going to a wide receiver, aren't they? You can just feel it coming, like the ripple in the atmosphere ahead of the meteor...

Bearcats DL Jowon Briggs has a fan in Mike Brown. https://www.bengals.com/news/the-owner-the-prospect-and-jowon-briggs-lists-that-fuel-his-dreams

What’s frustrating is that the picture I’m starting to see (and hopefully my vision is far from 20/20 in this instance) is one where the Bengals are going to miss out on a top OT prospect that they badly need because they won a meaningless game against Cleveland’s scrubs in week 18 last season, so they are picking four slots lower than they would have with a loss. I can’t blame them, I get it, no one wants to lose and tanking to end the season would have presented its own issues. But still, this sucks.

So I did a quick three rounder on pff with the rule that I had to take BPA, regardless of position. The result: 18. CB Cooper DeJean (8) 49. WR Troy Franklin (29) 80. LB Junior Colson (71) 97. DE Javon Solomon (91) The number after each name is where they were ranked on pff's big board. Surprisingly, I don't hate it. DeJean and Franklin are both fantastic talents and absolute steals at 18 and 29, respectively. Colson is a three-down LB with elite coverage skills. Yeah, yeah, I know we have Wilson and Pratt and they both looked like shit last year. Solmon would need time to bulk up a bit but he's a situational sack machine and the way our DE room always seems to get hit with injuries we can't have too many pass rushers. Notably, restricting myself to taking to top player regardless of position didn't require passing on any needs. There were never any OTs to be had without making major reaches (best in the first would have been Mims). Only time there was a DT available was the first (both Murphy and Newton). Mostly it was edge rushers, LBs and safeties that seemed to cluster around Cincy's picks. IF this bears any resemblance to the real thing I would think there would be some opportunities to trade around.

Good but loooong look at value.

Re RB it’s low attention mock drafters. The see mixon gone hence RB. Re WR it’s a strong class and they have not shown a reluctance to draft to strength.

RB is showing up in the second because Mixon. I think they will take one but it’s a day 3 pick. I am all but certain there will be a WR in the first three rounds. Likely second. But again it all depends on how things fall.

It’s the Bengals, so a first round WR is always in the mix. The only thing Mike likes more than a first round wideout is a first round QB, and they are already set there, so… The biggest downside is that TJ would light PBS on fire and HamCo would jack up your taxes to pay for repairs. I suspect that if it isn’t OT or DT at 18, it will be corner. But who knows how the real thing falls, and while WR would aggravate me, it wouldn’t surprise me. I think Hobs mentioned this possibility in one of his recent mocks. He doesn’t see it because Tee is still here and they are apparently high on Iosivas, so getting a first round WR snaps would be difficult. Of course, that didn’t stop them from taking Murphy last year.

dui

Yup. As expected, Tee is going nowhere this year. Meanwhile, another one for the futures file when they start looking at a deal for Chase: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39947858/eagles-extend-wr-devonta-smith-2028-season

LMAOOOO https://www.audacy.com/937thefan/sports/pittsburgh-steelers/poni-steelers-have-discussed-a-trade-for-tee-higgins

Sadly, he never found the real killer... https://abcnews.go.com/US/oj-simpson-former-football-star-acquitted-murder-dies/story?id=16354000

So week 1 in Brazil will be Packers/Eagles. https://www.nfl.com/news/packers-to-face-eagles-in-week-1-s-sao-paulo-game

Everyone makes mistakes and thankfully this one doesn't appear to have hurt anyone but him. If I had a nickle for every time I was the dumb drunk or high kid behind the wheel, well, I'd have a lot of coins, let's just say that. So I will cast no stones. That said, his timing does suck, His value was already falling (in that "take every trade" mock I did he was the first pick I made...at 111) and this will certainly not help.

Some interesting stuff from the WaPo today on the looming stadium building boom (gift link): https://wapo.st/4aIOLnw

Oh, right, baseball started…checks standings…oh we suck again…early tho.

Yeah, I like Guyton as well. Definitely into a trade down scenario like this.

Okay, now for the most ridiculous mock ever. For this one, the rule was that any time a trade was proposed I had to take it (or pick one in the case of multiple offers). So I only picked when forced to, which meant I didn't select a player until the fourth round (and still got Sweat, lol). So here's Mike Brown's dream draft, 100% cheap rookies: 111. T'Vondre Sweat DT Texas 112. Jaden Hicks S Washington State 123. Cade Stover TE Ohio State 124. Maason Smith DT LSU 129. Jaylen Wright RB Tennessee 131. Cam Hart CB Notre Dame 132. Beaux Limmer OC Arkansas 135. Layden Robinson OG Texas A&M 150. Javon Baker WR UCF 157. Jonah Elliss EDGE Utah 167. Garret Greenfield OT South Dakota State 170. Tommy Eichenberg LB Ohio State 175. Gabe Hall DT Baylor 176. Isaac Guerendo RB Louisville 179. Caedan Wallace OT Penn State 182. Austin Reed QB Western Kentucky 199. Tory Taylor P Iowa 214. AJ Barner TE Michigan 215. Ainias Smith WR Texas A&M 224. DeCamerion Richardson CB Mississippi State 2025 SEA 1st 2025 DEN 2nd 2025 NYJ 2nd 2025 SEA 2nd 2025 BUF 3rd 2025 DEN 3rd 2025 HOU 3rd 2025 MIN 3rd 2025 NYJ 3rd 2025 HOU 4th 2025 MIN 4th

Yup great deal for Houston. Buffalo, well, I guess. Just more that goes to show why the Bengals are hanging on to Tee.