Why pass on Sweed??

[CJBestInAFC]

We also drafted a tall WR that isn't very fast in the 7th round not the second where it would have been a waste if they drafted Sweed.

[ThortonMelon]

Someone help me. Every scouting service had Sweed much higher than Simpson. And he seems to be a "character" guy and shows a lot of leadership potential. What the hell are these Bengals scouts smoking!!!!! Fire em' all!!!

It seems like most fans would be happy if their favorite team didnt do any film or scouting work, skipped the combine and pro days, and simply shelled out $6.99 for Mel Kiper's Draft Guide; then used his rankings to set up their draft board.

Just because a guy is "projected" by Mel Kiper, Mike Mayock, etc. etc, to go in a certain round doesnt mean that the teams that scout the players agree. I hate it when people make statements like "most teams had him rated as a 4th or 5th round pick, but we drafted him in the second. We could have gotten him later." We have no idea where the teams had any player ranked. NFL teams dont make their draft boards public. All we have to go on is the speculation of people like Kiper and Mayock.

I hate it when people use the term "steal" or "reach" right after the draft. People call a pick a "steal" if a team takes a guy later than they were projectged by Kiper & co.; and they call a pick a "reach" if a team takes a player before they were projected by Kiper & co. This is all bulls**t. The teams know more than the scouting services. Obviously, the teams are not always right about a player. However, if a player is picked in the 4th round, but was projected to be a 1st rounder (like Dan Conner for example), the team that drafted him didnt get "1st round value in the 4th round", they got a player that the 32 teams agreed wasnt any better than a 4th round pick.

The fact that "every scouting service had Sweed much higher than Simpson" means nothing. The NFL teams (that spend more time, have more expertise, more access and resources to scout players than does Mel Kiper & co.) obviously disagreed with the scouting services assessment of Sweed, otherwise he wouldnt have lasted as long as he did. According to Curnette, the Steelers also would have taken Simpson over Sweed if both were still on the board.

So to answer your question, the Bengals drafted Simpson ahead of Sweed because they think Simpson will be the better receiver. And they dont care if Mel Kiper, Mike Mayock and Todd McShay disagree.

[membengal]

Standing ovation to thorton mellon.