Bengals Only Day One Mock

[NJ29]

Bengals Picks - Day 1

1. Buster Davis - LB, Florida State

The team could use a smart, aggressive linebacker, and Davis is a great one.

--- Other Options: Paul Posluszny, Lawrence Timmons, Victor Abiamiri

2. Lamarr Woodley - DE, Michigan

A good, hard working, pass rushing end to take over for Justin.

--- Other Options: Dwayne Bowe (if Hobson's infatuation with WRs is legit), Charles Johnson, Tank Tyler

3. Jonathan Wade - CB, Tennessee

Wade is big, fast, and athletic. Deltha and Tory are old, and Keiwan is physical enough to take on a large role on defense.

--- Other Options: Anthony Waters, Tanard Jackson, Tarell Brown, Aaron Rouse, Brandon, Mebane

[Whur CHad At?]

We don't have a 3rd round pick

[Spor_tees]

Bengals Picks - Day 1

1. Buster Davis - LB, Florida State

The team could use a smart, aggressive linebacker, and Davis is a great one.

--- Other Options: Paul Posluszny, Lawrence Timmons, Victor Abiamiri

2. Lamarr Woodley - DE, Michigan

A good, hard working, pass rushing end to take over for Justin.

--- Other Options: Dwayne Bowe (if Hobson's infatuation with WRs is legit), Charles Johnson, Tank Tyler

3. Jonathan Wade - CB, Tennessee

Wade is big, fast, and athletic. Deltha and Tory are old, and Keiwan is physical enough to take on a large role on defense.

--- Other Options: Anthony Waters, Tanard Jackson, Tarell Brown, Aaron Rouse, Brandon, Mebane

Did you look at my Mock before you did yours?

[schweinhart]

My beef with Buster is his ability to drop into deeper coverage --- don't think he can swing it quite like he'd need to with the Bengals. I see him as a better fit with the Eagles. Trotter can't play forever and even though Omar Gaither would be a decent heir apparent there in addition to playing well weakside in the place of Matt McCoy this year, I think Jimmie Johnson will lobby hard to get Buster because of how fast he plays forward and eventually shift Trotter to compete at the strongside with Chris Gocong and Dhani Jones.

Woodley would be great in the 2nd if he lasts that long and he just might.

But they got to get a corner early out of this draft -- either round should present them with a good one.

[HairOnFire]

Woodley would be great in the 2nd if he lasts that long and he just might.

Every year the LA Times has three anonymous NFL scouts evaluate the prospects that will play in the Rose Bowl, and they're usually freakishly accurate. This year two out of three scouts tore apart Woodley, and the one scout who didn't would only go so far as to say that the NFL will always find a spot for someone who can rush the passer. Even that praise seemed faint, as Woodley's pass rush ability was said to be a product of technique and instinct that may not translate to the pros. All of the scouts agreed that Woodley was such a liability against the run that many teams wouldn't consider him at all. In addition, the quickness of his first step was questioned as was his ability to shed blocks once engaged. Finally, one scout said flatly that some NFL team was going to make a very big mistake if he was highly drafted. The consensus opinion gave Woodley a late 2nd early 3rd round grade.

Just for the record, I was plenty surprised by the remarks.

[Whur CHad At?]

Woodley would be great in the 2nd if he lasts that long and he just might.

Every year the LA Times has three anonymous NFL scouts evaluate the prospects that will play in the Rose Bowl, and they're usually freakishly accurate. This year two out of three scouts tore apart Woodley, and the one scout who didn't would only go so far as to say that the NFL will always find a spot for someone who can rush the passer. Even that praise seemed faint, as Woodley's pass rush ability was said to be a product of technique and instinct that may not translate to the pros. All of the scouts agreed that Woodley was such a liability against the run that many teams wouldn't consider him at all. In addition, the quickness of his first step was questioned as was his ability to shed blocks once engaged. Finally, one scout said flatly that some NFL team was going to make a very big mistake if he was highly drafted. The consensus opinion gave Woodley a late 2nd early 3rd round grade.

Just for the record, I was plenty surprised by the remarks.

Prob the same people who said Tom Brady would never make it in the pros

[HairOnFire]

Prob the same people who said Tom Brady would never make it in the pros

Actually, last year they hit on almost every player mentioned. In fact, they projected Frostee Rucker to be taken in the 3rd or 4th round....and that actually happened. Right?

[Kazkal]

Where most said rucker wasent a 7th rnder.

[schweinhart]

Woodley looks like he plays down wide better where he can free his moves more but he's probably gonna get tweenered pretty hard. 3-4 teams will look at him hard as an OLB who can rush well off the edge down but how he can adjust to space is a different story. 4-3 teams got a bigger problem trying to sort out Woodley and the Bengals specifically would have to gauge him against Pollack who was much quicker and a stronger interior player. He should get lumped with Quentin Moses who's much quicker but not an improvement as a 4-3 run defender and Anthony Spencer who can penetrate vs. the run better than either but doesn't look strong enough to be an all downs end in a 4-3 in the event he couldn't transition to strongside LB.

The Bengals have some reckoning to do at DE w/o Justin. Do they bank on B-Rob for 1 more year to go along with Jumpy Jr. at RDE and see what they can get out of Fanene (who should not be kicked inside ever), Rucker (who doesn't look like he'll add anything at either DE spot) or Eric Henderson (who was able to prove he's an outstanding pass rusher vs. starting NFL left tackles in college but hasn't got the shot yet to do the same in the pros). Or free agency since none of the DEs they have will come close to Justin as a run defender.

My guess is they'll switch Jumpy back to RDE and keep him light rather than adding weight to him again in what turned out to be an assinine move, roll with B-Rob 1 more year at LDE, hope Rucker doesn't flesh out like Mathias Askew and let Fanene and Henderson compete for PT.

But if Jamaal Anderson is there in the 1st, they should take him and start him immediately at LDE on run downs and kick him down to RDT on pass.

[schweinhart]

Prob the same people who said Tom Brady would never make it in the pros

Actually, last year they hit on almost every player mentioned. In fact, they projected Frostee Rucker to be taken in the 3rd or 4th round....and that actually happened. Right?

I believe I remember that article but can't find it. Isn't that the same seance that conjured up Darnell Bing as a 1st round pick instead of the 4th round fodder that he was?

[HairOnFire]

I believe I remember that article but can't find it. Isn't that the same seance that conjured up Darnell Bing as a 1st round pick instead of the 4th round fodder that he was?

You're 33% correct. Bing was described as a love him or hate him type of player and one of the scouts loved him enough to give a late 1st early 2nd round grade. The other two scouts predicted that Bing would fall in the draft, perhaps as far as the 4th round (DING!!!), because he had outgrown the SS position and would need to switch the LB in the NFL. And we all know that the predicted position change didn't become official until the combine...several months after the article appeared. BTW, I posted the article last year precisely because it was the first I had read that questioned Bing's projected draft status and future in the NFL....and at the time I was pimping Bing.

And again, these were the scouts that correctly predicted Frostee Rucker's draft position....which makes them more accurate than 98% of the crap you guys will read in the next couple of months.

Last point. The criticism of Woodley was made only after his production in college was noted. But again, the point of the article is to highlight the players appearing in the Rose Bowl who'll end up playing in the NFL, and on that score the scouts singled out Woodley as a player who wasn't as highly rated by NFL types as his college production would imply. In fact, Michigan ILB David Rivers was said to be a better NFL prospect than Woodley, but Rivers is rarely hyped in the same manner that Woodley is.

As always, take it for whatever it might be worth.

[HairOnFire]

The Bengals have some reckoning to do at DE w/o Justin. Do they bank on B-Rob for 1 more year to go along with Jumpy Jr. at RDE and see what they can get out of Fanene (who should not be kicked inside ever), Rucker (who doesn't look like he'll add anything at either DE spot) or Eric Henderson (who was able to prove he's an outstanding pass rusher vs. starting NFL left tackles in college but hasn't got the shot yet to do the same in the pros).

It's both funny and tiring how you use the same lack of opportunity as a reason to criticize Frostee Rucker and as a jumping off point for empty praise of Eric Henderson.

Your bias is showing.

[Whur CHad At?]

Eric Henderson is practice squad junk. Look, he was beating starting LT's in college, but how many of those are starting in the NFL, two?? LT's in the NFL are much bigger and stronger than college players and they will manhandle Henderson. If the guy was as good as you and people say he is, he would of been drafted

[schweinhart]

Yeah Henderson is practice squad junk until he does something. Still, Rucker got manhandled more than him in preseason and got to show off his backpedal move. Henderson is strong and he showed it when he played against the likes of Marcus McNeil, D'Brick and Eric Winston -- not exactly Ed Blanton but whatever.

But who's who can get sorted out next year...hopefully barring further injuries. The point is whether or not the Bengals look to add another DE through a high draft pick or free agency if they don't re-sign Justin.

Which cycles back to Woodley who probably can't swing what Justin does and would have a better chance to fill the void left by Pollack as a SSLB who rushed down in passing situations. The Bengals didn't use Jeanty like they did Pollack but Jumpy did a nice job coming in to rush at LDE to rack up some sacks. Can a slimmed down Jumpy play RDE in place of Justin is the question the Bengals have to answer because he sure had his problems as the starting RDE in 2005 when he played with more weight and had to kick inside for about half the year to try RDT on passing downs, which was about the stupidest thing the Bengals did with their defensive line since Marv too over.

The MLB picture is one that looks like it will have to be addressed unless the Bengals are willing to roll with the personnel they did this year. Caleb Miller looks like he can handle it if they can move B Simmons out of the way. But there's good options this year in the draft to get a real MLB. David Harris of Michigan would definitely be one of them and has a good shot of getting picked ahead of Woodley.

Meanwhile, Arkansas head coach Houston said he had to catch a plane after his press conference today to go have a chat with DE Jamaal Anderson. I'm guessing Jamaal the Beast got a pretty good early entry evaluation for the coach to hop a plane.

[HairOnFire]

Yeah Henderson is practice squad junk until he does something. Still, Rucker got manhandled more than him in preseason and got to show off his backpedal move.

Blah, blah, blah. Rucker was in on a couple of sacks, blocked or tipped several passes, and showed off outstanding ability to work his way through traffic, providing very good backside pursuit. In other words, Rucker looked like a pretty good LDE prospect...which is exactly the role he was drafted to fill. Sadly, he hurt his shoulder in the 2nd or 3rd preseason game and never got the chance to prove what he could do during the regular season.

Sadly, this caused many Bengal fans to speculate that if the Pro Bowl had a practice squad Eric Henderson would surely be on it. And no doubt Jonathan Fanene would be added to the Pro Bowl's PUP list if such a thing existed.

[schweinhart]

Sadly, this caused many Bengal fans to speculate that if the Pro Bowl had a practice squad Eric Henderson would surely be on it. And no doubt Jonathan Fanene would be added to the Pro Bowl's PUP list if such a thing existed.

And we can add Frostee to the Rookie IR 1st team

Good news is that the Bengals got these 3 to work with. How confident they are in any of them should be foreshadowed in the draft if Justin Smith is not re-signed and no other vaiable starter is acquired through free agency.

But I'm guessing some Bengal ears perked up when the news broke today that apparently Houston Nutt's plae ride to try to convince Jamaal Anderson to stay at Arkansas didn't work.