Devin Hester

[nechemia]

Anyone else feel right now we sure could have used Devin Hester right now more than Frostee Rucker......

[Kazkal]

Hester was a 2nd rnd pick no? I still think we should have taken Ko instead of rucker

[JPW]

Anyone else feel right now we sure could have used Devin Hester right now more than Frostee Rucker......

Hester was a 2nd round pick we could not have taken him instead of Rucker.

[jjakq27]

Antonio Chapman was supposed to boost our return game but that didn't happen.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Hester was a 2nd rnd pick no? I still think we should have taken Ko instead of rucker

Absolutely. I'd have said Leonard Pope, but the last few weeks our TE play has been surprisingly good, especially catching the ball.

The Rucker pick is still the one that looked terrible then, looks terrible now, and will probably always look terrible. I'd love to see what impressed them enough to put him so high on our draft board, when he by all accounts wasn't anywhere near that high by the general opinion of the media, etc.

[agreen_112]

Anyone else feel right now we sure could have used Devin Hester right now more than Frostee Rucker......

I'm tired of these stupid "what if's". They have nothing to do with the Bengals section so post them somewhere else. Yeah, it would be nice to have someone like that, but so what. We have a good team. Get behind them, because we're going to the playoffs.

[TJJackson]

Anyone else feel right now we sure could have used Devin Hester right now more than Frostee Rucker......

we'd have been better off with a soda and a bag of chips than Frostee the Slowman.....the chips and soda wouldn't be dinging the salary cap

[HoosierCat]

The Rucker pick is still the one that looked terrible then, looks terrible now, and will probably always look terrible. I'd love to see what impressed them enough to put him so high on our draft board, when he by all accounts wasn't anywhere near that high by the general opinion of the media, etc.

Oh, I dunno. Hard to fault the guy's play when, well, he hasn't played. As for what he might be doing, we have a decent measuring stick in the next guy picked, by Dallas: another DE, Jason Hester. Hester has collected 8 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 10 games. Hardly world-beater numbers, eh?

Will the Non-Dairy Dessert ever start? I dunno. Will he bcome a solid backup/emergency starter/role player in the mold of other 3rd rounders (Caleb, Landon, etc.)? Almost certainly -- if he can keep his nose clean.

[Whur CHad At?]

Iwish we could of selected him, but I don't think Hester would have had any success returning balls here. Although I do think we should of selected Ko, that was a HUGE mistake on our part

[TJJackson]

the next guy picked, by Dallas: another DE, Jason Hester. Hester has collected 8 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 10 games.

Hatcher. Jason Hatcher

How about looking at any of the following instead, all at need positins for the Bengals

Owen Daniels

Victor Adejanju

Ko Simpson

[Tasher]

How many picks do you want focused exclusively as Special Teams players?

I like our balance right now, and barring the injuries, I think that our return game would be pretty good.

Jury is still out on Rucker in any event, and we will not learn more until next year.

Furthermore, I don't see any reason to think that Hester as a contributor to the Bengals changes our situation from what it is currently.

[HoosierCat]

How about looking at any of the following instead

Why? Any given year you can turn around six or seven months after the draft and say, "oh, we should have grabbed that guy." How many teams should have grabbed TJ, after all? If Rucker comes out next year and puts up 15 sacks should we still have taken Ko? Why don't we just wait and see what happens?

[Whur CHad At?]

I don't think Rucker was a mistake because Marvin sees something in this guy and we are all just going to have to wait and see on this guy. But I think we could of grabbed Ko, becuase the guy would of made an immediate impact. He is doing dynamite for the Bills right now

[bengal4life]

If we would have selected Hester in the second round then we wouldn't have gotten whitworth. I would much rather have Whitworth than Hester. He has come up huge since Levi went down. Protecting your franchise QB is a little more important than returning a few TD's. As for Frosty we won't know if he was worth a 3rd rounder or not until next year.

[walshfan]

When the Bengals have a stout defense and a decent offense ( excluding the QB psotition ) as the Bears they can draft a special teamer in the second round..

BTW ...Whitworth over Hesster in this case ..

[TJJackson]

Why?

Because you asked us to look at Jason Hatcher (although you say Jason Hester)

I say look at these other fellows instead who could have been had at the same pick as Rucker and PRODUCED

If Rucker comes out next year and puts up 15 sacks should we still have taken Ko? Why don't we just wait and see what happens?

*laffing until I choke on my own tongue*

uhm, if Frostee the Slowman Rucker has 15 sacks next year, I will buy and publicly wear a custom Frostee Rucker official jersey, carry a sign reading "Frostee's number 1 fan" and post a pic thereof here on Bengalszone.com. Write it down.

[HoosierCat]

Why?

Because you asked us to look at Jason Hatcher (although you say Jason Hester)

I say look at these other fellows instead who could have been had at the same pick as Rucker and PRODUCED

If Rucker comes out next year and puts up 15 sacks should we still have taken Ko? Why don't we just wait and see what happens?

*laffing until I choke on my own tongue*

uhm, if Frostee the Slowman Rucker has 15 sacks next year, I will buy and publicly wear a custom Frostee Rucker official jersey, carry a sign reading "Frostee's number 1 fan" and post a pic thereof here on Bengalszone.com. Write it down.

I brought up Hatcher simply because he happened to be a DE taken with the very next pick and provided a useful yardstick for measuring what Rucker's numbers might have been this year (i.e. not important). I wasn't suggesting we should have selected him.

Nor am I suggesting Rucker will turn into SuperNonDairyDessertMan. My point is that neither of us know what he'll do, if anything. He could turn into the best DE of all time and Ko Simpson could be a washout in three years. Or Simpson could go to the Pro Bowl and Rucker be in jail. Most likely both will end up somewhere in between.

And what else would you expect out of a third round pick? Landon Johnson isn't a starter. Should we have passed? How about Caleb? Shoot, before Henry in 2005 our last starter to come out of round three was Schobel -- and he cost a pick to move up to get. Before that you have to go back to '98 to Foley and Goff.

I just don't get your constant complaints about Rucker. 3rd rounders do NOT routinely become impact player, we haven't seen what he can or can't do, and if he becomes nothing more than a backup and role player we will have gotten value for the pick. You can't ask for more than that.

[nechemia]

How many picks do you want focused exclusively as Special Teams players?

I like our balance right now, and barring the injuries, I think that our return game would be pretty good.

Jury is still out on Rucker in any event, and we will not learn more until next year.

Furthermore, I don't see any reason to think that Hester as a contributor to the Bengals changes our situation from what it is currently.

I honestly think I could return punts bettere than Keiwan Ratliff....absolutely boggles my mind

[BlainThePain]

How many picks do you want focused exclusively as Special Teams players?

I like our balance right now, and barring the injuries, I think that our return game would be pretty good.

Jury is still out on Rucker in any event, and we will not learn more until next year.

Furthermore, I don't see any reason to think that Hester as a contributor to the Bengals changes our situation from what it is currently.

I honestly think I could return punts bettere than Keiwan Ratliff....absolutely boggles my mind

You'd be wrong. He does a good job of reading the ball and not making mistakes. Think back and remember what our punt returns looked like during the Lebeau era.

[derekshank]

I honestly think I could return punts bettere than Keiwan Ratliff....absolutely boggles my mind

Ratliff isn't going to break many long ones, which is why his average is so low. The vast majority of punt returns are of the 3 to 4 yard variety. It is the rare 90 yard return that make other punt returner stats look impressive.

Ratliff's job is not to make a mistake. He does that. Also... he had a nice 38 yard return against Baltimore late in the 3rd quarter further cementing our victory in the battle of field position.

Is he an elite punt returner? No. But that's why we brought in Chatman. I'd be curious to see how many teams have a back-up punt returner as reliable as Ratliff.

[Wraith]

You know, I have been very critical of Marvin's draft day escapades but in the end he is smarter than I am.

Look, I was VERY upset about the Whitworth pick but where would the Bengals have been without him. I thought Leftwich was going to be a better pro QB than Palmer (*blush*). I thought Marcedes Lewis would have been a better selection than Joseph. I didn't like the Landon Johnson draft. In the end Marvin just knows what he is doing so I cut him a little slack on the Perry pick, the Thurman pick, and the Rucker selection because he has earned it.

[Tasher]

Honestly, all I REALLY care about from our Special Teams on punt and kick returns is that they DO NOT FUMBLE the BALL.

Our offense is one of the best in the league and more than capable of driving the long field. But they cannot drive the long field if we don't have the ball.

Keiwan, for all the complaints about his return ability does not fumble or muff the catch. Now, considering that he is 2nd string behind an injured Chatman? I will take that every day and every year.

Besides, didn't Keiwan just break one off for 30-40 yards vs Balti and put us inside FG range?

[TJJackson]

I just don't get your constant complaints about Rucker.

Try this, mostly.....aside from the fact that he sucks, he could have been had as a free agent rather than wasting a r3 pick on him. We could have gotten a very good TE, DE, S, or LB with this pick if we hadn't wasted it on the Slowman.

3rd rounders do NOT routinely become impact player, we haven't seen what he can or can't do, and if he becomes nothing more than a backup and role player we will have gotten value for the pick. You can't ask for more than that.

If he were a quality player, I'd agree with you. But he isn't. He's also yet another off-the-field mess. I can and will ask for more value than we got at that pick....every pick should be made with an eye to adding value to the team. Every pick should have a chance to start (and in this, I include special teams), because you never know when injuries might force you to start the player.

Finally, when you borrow a pick fom next year's draft to draft in the supplemental, that supplemental pick should be evaluated together with the NEXT YEARS picks to determien what value you received. If you received some value early, that increases the quality of the draft....next year's, that is. Brooks is a 2007 draftee who were were able to get a year early, in essence. The quality of his play does not impact the rating of the 2006 draft.

[HoosierCat]

Try this, mostly.....aside from the fact that he sucks, he could have been had as a free agent rather than wasting a r3 pick on him.

You don't know that. Thats your opinion, and that's cool, you are entitled. But until Rucker gets out there and performs -- or doesn't -- we don't know if he sucks or not. And we'll never know if he would have been there later or not.

Here's another, related, nugget to chew on: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writ...art1/index.html

That's Don Banks redoing the draft in hindsight. What caught my eye is that he has both Joseph and Whitworth going in round 1. Based on that, I'll give the Bengals a pass on Rucker. They seem to have known what they were doing this year. I'm good with the Rucker pick for now.

If he were a quality player, I'd agree with you. But he isn't. He's also yet another off-the-field mess. I can and will ask for more value than we got at that pick....every pick should be made with an eye to adding value to the team. Every pick should have a chance to start (and in this, I include special teams), because you never know when injuries might force you to start the player.

I see no reason to say that Rucker could not have stepped in if injuries dictated. Whitworth did, Joseph did, why not Non-Dairy Dessert Man? He got hurt. It happens. As for the off-field issues, yeah, I don't like them one bit. But they are old accusations and as far as I can tell he hasn't so much as sipped a beer since he got drafted. Which is more than can be said of a lot of Bengals players. He has no off-field issues as a Bengal, and thats what I'm looking at.

Finally, when you borrow a pick fom next year's draft to draft in the supplemental, that supplemental pick should be evaluated together with the NEXT YEARS picks to determien what value you received. If you received some value early, that increases the quality of the draft....next year's, that is. Brooks is a 2007 draftee who were were able to get a year early, in essence. The quality of his play does not impact the rating of the 2006 draft.

I'm not sure what this has to do with the topic at hand. How did we get on Brooks? For the record, I think rolling the dice on Ahmad was a good idea given the Odell situation...but this has nothing to do with Rucker.