Jason Allen or Ko Simpson

[skyline]

I've watched Allen throughout his entire college career.

The injury thing REALLY bugs me...I don't feel very confident that it won't happen again. I'd agree, though, that he's the more talented of the two.

[Whur CHad At?]

I'll stick with Ko...he has way too much potential to pass up. Besides, if we don't draft him the Steelers will, and I don't know about you but I don't want that to happen.

[BengalPappaw]

I believe that Jason Allen would be an upgrade in the cornerback position and could the replacement for Tory James when the time comes.

I do NOT believe we have enough GOOD cornerback -- we have numbers. And, most of our corners with blemishes. i.e. lack speed or size or ballhawking skills.

I hear you Pap. CB has got to get priority and Allen has the advantage over Ko because Allen has a legit shot at being a cover corner if it don't look like his hip will turn to mince meat. Ko would probably only get looked at as a zone CB if even that.

But if it's a CB the Bengals are after, why fool with players who still are safeties. Ko has a better shot at SS who can interchange than Allen but the Bengals have signed Dex Jack and have a Pro Bowl cailber FS in Madieu returning.

To me drafting either Allen or Ko makes little sense at this stage of the game. What makes more sense is drafting

Antonio Cromartie

I like Antonio Cromartie as a corner, but I like the selection of Allen to play either corner or safety -- then become the starting corner in a year or two.

Health is my concern for both Cromartie and Allen.

I might as well express my other fear -- i.e. the Bengals medical staff has not instilled great confidence that they can make a good medical assessment (remember Chris Perry injury story).

[schweinhart]

I hear you Pap about Allen being able to play either CB or safety.

But.....Cromartie is athletic enough to play slot in the NFL and I doubt Allen can swing that. Still, Allen seems a likelier choice at #24 than Ko.

Another aspect about Cromartie is his size. He's already stronger than either Ko showed with his 11 lifts (less than even Jimmy Williams) and Allen. He's already the same weight and given his frame will only get bigger to the point that the Bengals could end up with a 215-220 pound CB who with low 4.4 speed who could play every single position in the secondary if needed.

But versatility aside, Cromartie looks like he's already being pegged as a true man, shut down corner to the point where it will probably become less likely in the weeks ahead that he'll even be available at #24.

Medical wise, yes there was the seemingly never-ending sports hernia episode of Chris Perry in his 2 carry year but I'm not sure that factored into him being available at #24 or the Bengals reaching for him in the 1st.

[BengalPappaw]

Okay -- you've convinced me to take another look at Cromartie.

BTW My concern on the medial staff was their lack ability to make a credible descision on the health of Cromartie and Allen

I still believe that Leonard Pope will be the safe pick for Mikee -- even though I'd prefer a good S or CB

[ArmyBengal]

I was once opposed to CB in the first, but I guess I'm rethinking that with Cromartie. I know he's not the safe pick, but you just can't deny what he's been able to do since the injury. God knows a shutdown corner would be a thing of beauty. We got Deltha back on track, why not Cromartie ?? If we could then get a DT like Harris in the 2nd and a Klopenstein in the 3rd, I'd be more than pleased. Safety can be addressed in the 4th with Roman. God the more I look at those picks, I think I would be REAL happy !!! Marvin, I'm sure has other plans !!!

WHODEY !!!

[schweinhart]

Okay -- you've convinced me to take another look at Cromartie.

BTW My concern on the medial staff was their lack ability to make a credible descision on the health of Cromartie and Allen

I still believe that Leonard Pope will be the safe pick for Mikee -- even though I'd prefer a good S or CB

Allen would seem to be the tougher to evaluate because of the nature of his injury but so far he's done everything he could do dto dispel as many doubts as possible.

Pope is an extremely safe pick. There's not much to lose by it given that his short area separation is better than Lewis and on par with Klopfenstein for red zone success if nothing else. Hard to imagine he'd block much worse than Schobel.

But I'd prefer the CB and if it came down to Allen or Ko with the Bengals 1st, give me Allen, injury and all.

[BengalPappaw]

Okay -- you've convinced me to take another look at Cromartie.

BTW My concern on the medial staff was their lack ability to make a credible descision on the health of Cromartie and Allen

I still believe that Leonard Pope will be the safe pick for Mikee -- even though I'd prefer a good S or CB

Allen would seem to be the tougher to evaluate because of the nature of his injury but so far he's done everything he could do dto dispel as many doubts as possible.

Pope is an extremely safe pick. There's not much to lose by it given that his short area separation is better than Lewis and on par with Klopfenstein for red zone success if nothing else. Hard to imagine he'd block much worse than Schobel.

But I'd prefer the CB and if it came down to Allen or Ko with the Bengals 1st, give me Allen, injury and all.

I hear you Schwein

When I went to my "archive, I only have 4 or 5 games from 2004 with Cromartie. My concern is that Cromartie only started when the other CB was injuried. Cromartie did look good on punt returns.

Really interesting that Cromartie made 1st team ACC and he didn't even start on his own team.

Another interesting point was in the FSU vs West Virginia, when Cromatie played against Chris Henry. Henry had a pretty good game. On one play Henry actually congratulated Cromartie on a good defensive play that prevented Henry from scoring a West Virginia TD. Be nice to see those Henry and Cromartie playing on the Bengals.

[schweinhart]

Be nice to see those Henry and Cromartie playing on the Bengals.

No doubt Pap.

They'd both get better by practicing against each other and both got the goods to deliver on Sundays for a long while (so long as Henry can steer clear of trouble).