Crabtree or Andre Smith?

[HAPPYJAQ]

These two guys are falling fast and could fall into the Bengals laps at 6. It looks like Stafford, Curry, Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe will be the first 4 picks in some order. There is always a player or two who comes out of nowhere to leap into the Top 5 and Dirty Sanchez still has a shot to go to either Kansas City or possibly Seattle.

If Crabtree and Andre Smith are both there at #6, who would you take?

[Whur CHad At?]

Crabtree....screw Andre Smith that lazy peice of crap.

[Kazkal]

Crabtree but i'd say both gogo trading down or defense.

[Whur CHad At?]

I think this might be the year we could easily trade down. If we trade down but that far down, maybe to 9 or 10, we can still get great value. I would only do it if Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe are off the board. If Crabtree is there, I think we need to talk about it. But I think if he is still there teams like Jacksonville and San Fran will do whatever it takes to get their paws on him.

[HAPPYJAQ]

In a perfect world, the Bengals would trade down to the 20's, get and extra 2nd and 3rd/4th and pick who's left between Oher, Britton, Beatty, Moreno, McCoy, Beanie or Donald Brown. It's possible that one or two of those guys could be there at #38, too.

[HairOnFire]

If Crabtree and Andre Smith are both there at #6, who would you take?

Smith, and in less than a heartbest if I've done my homework and concluded his personality isn't a deal breaker. If I'm not satisfied....Orakpo.

[Whur CHad At?]

Crabtree, Crabtree. Who are you going to replace TJ with? Simpson? Caldwell?

[HairOnFire]

Crabtree, Crabtree. Who are you going to replace TJ with? Simpson? Caldwell?

Actually, yeah. Those guys were drafted for a reason, right? And as much as I "like" Crabtree I find the news of his third foot/lower leg injury in a year as troubling as anything I've heard about Andre Smith to date. If that changes in the next few weeks I'll adjust my yammering about Smith to keep pace, but right now I'm not hearing anything about Smith that should be considered a deal breaker. In fact, I'm kinda jazzed about him screwing up enough to fall into play at #6.

[Whur CHad At?]

Hey if Andre has a good pro day ,can maintain his current weight, and resolve all questions about his character, I'll be all for him. But the fact that a lot of teams have dropped him all together from their boards is troubling. It could be a smoke screen, but I highly doubt it.

[HAPPYJAQ]

I think that Smith is a bigger gamble than Crabtree, FWIW. If you take away the Combine debacle, you still have a guy that has some problems with his conditioning and has struggled against the top speed rushers in the SEC. I don't want to see him one-on-one against Terrell Suggs, James Harrison or Dwight Freeney. He's an outstanding run blocker, though.

I don't see Crabtree being a Larry Fitzgerald type, whom he's often compared to, but he should be a good possession receiver in the NFL. He's looks like a smaller Roy Williams type and that's probably good enough for him to be had at #6, if he's still there.

[Whur CHad At?]

Crabtree won the Biletnikoff Award two years in a row. That in its self is pretty amazing

[HairOnFire]

I think that Smith is a bigger gamble than Crabtree, FWIW.

But Smith just so happens to be an elite prospect whose only playing weaknesses are all but eliminated by a position shift to ORT, which just so happens to match the Bengals greatest need. Crabtree, at best, plays a position the Bengals can use additional help with. So the need debate isn't remotely equal....and the talent debate is close.

As for rolling the dice, I'd say there needs to be more bad news added to the Andre Smith story before I start getting a case of the yips.

If you take away the Combine debacle, you still have a guy that has some problems with his conditioning and has struggled against the top speed rushers in the SEC.

That rant evaporates almost completely simply by projecting Smith to the right side....a tweak that conveniently fills the Bengals biggest need. And call me crazy but isn't that something that should be considered seriously? Or should we all lose our heads as swiftly as Mike Mayock did?

[HAPPYJAQ]

I think that Smith is a bigger gamble than Crabtree, FWIW.

But Smith just so happens to be an elite prospect whose only playing weaknesses are all but eliminated by a position shift to ORT, which just so happens to match the Bengals greatest need. Crabtree, at best, plays a position the Bengals can use additional help with. So the need debate isn't remotely equal....and the talent debate is close.

As for rolling the dice, I'd say there needs to be more bad news added to the Andre Smith story before I start getting a case of the yips.

If you take away the Combine debacle, you still have a guy that has some problems with his conditioning and has struggled against the top speed rushers in the SEC.

That rant evaporates almost completely simply by projecting Smith to the right side....a tweak that conveniently fills the Bengals biggest need. And call me crazy but isn't that something that should be considered seriously? Or should we all lose our heads as swiftly as Mike Mayock did?

Some decent points, but I think the #6 pick overall should be an impact player at an impact position. The Bengals need to use a pick to fill a position that will otherwise be difficult through free agency. We have guys already on the roster that can play RT. Andre Smith could be an effective RT and looks like a more natural fit on the right side but if he can't play LT and block the QB's blindside, the #6 pick is too high.

[derekshank]

I think that Smith is a bigger gamble than Crabtree, FWIW.

But Smith just so happens to be an elite prospect whose only playing weaknesses are all but eliminated by a position shift to ORT, which just so happens to match the Bengals greatest need. Crabtree, at best, plays a position the Bengals can use additional help with. So the need debate isn't remotely equal....and the talent debate is close.

As for rolling the dice, I'd say there needs to be more bad news added to the Andre Smith story before I start getting a case of the yips.

If you take away the Combine debacle, you still have a guy that has some problems with his conditioning and has struggled against the top speed rushers in the SEC.

That rant evaporates almost completely simply by projecting Smith to the right side....a tweak that conveniently fills the Bengals biggest need. And call me crazy but isn't that something that should be considered seriously? Or should we all lose our heads as swiftly as Mike Mayock did?

Some decent points, but I think the #6 pick overall should be an impact player at an impact position. The Bengals need to use a pick to fill a position that will otherwise be difficult through free agency. We have guys already on the roster that can play RT. Andre Smith could be an effective RT and looks like a more natural fit on the right side but if he can't play LT and block the QB's blindside, the #6 pick is too high.

I don't see where your argument is going here. The Bengals have players who can play RT? They also have players that can play WR, DE, DT, LB, and pretty much every other position aside from C. I guess based strictly on need, the Bengals must take a C with the #6 pick.

Letting TJ walk still has the Bengals with Chad, Henry, Simpson, Caldwell, and Chatman. Even if they trade Chad there is a greater depth of talent to draw from at that position than anything on the O-Line or the front seven on defense.

No... don't take Crabtree. Under any circumstances. The Lions draft WR's in the first round... enough said.

[Whur CHad At?]

Simpson, Caldwell and especially Chatman don't make me breathe any easier

[HAPPYJAQ]

I think that Smith is a bigger gamble than Crabtree, FWIW.

But Smith just so happens to be an elite prospect whose only playing weaknesses are all but eliminated by a position shift to ORT, which just so happens to match the Bengals greatest need. Crabtree, at best, plays a position the Bengals can use additional help with. So the need debate isn't remotely equal....and the talent debate is close.

As for rolling the dice, I'd say there needs to be more bad news added to the Andre Smith story before I start getting a case of the yips.

If you take away the Combine debacle, you still have a guy that has some problems with his conditioning and has struggled against the top speed rushers in the SEC.

That rant evaporates almost completely simply by projecting Smith to the right side....a tweak that conveniently fills the Bengals biggest need. And call me crazy but isn't that something that should be considered seriously? Or should we all lose our heads as swiftly as Mike Mayock did?

Some decent points, but I think the #6 pick overall should be an impact player at an impact position. The Bengals need to use a pick to fill a position that will otherwise be difficult through free agency. We have guys already on the roster that can play RT. Andre Smith could be an effective RT and looks like a more natural fit on the right side but if he can't play LT and block the QB's blindside, the #6 pick is too high.

I don't see where your argument is going here. The Bengals have players who can play RT? They also have players that can play WR, DE, DT, LB, and pretty much every other position aside from C. I guess based strictly on need, the Bengals must take a C with the #6 pick.

Letting TJ walk still has the Bengals with Chad, Henry, Simpson, Caldwell, and Chatman. Even if they trade Chad there is a greater depth of talent to draw from at that position than anything on the O-Line or the front seven on defense.

No... don't take Crabtree. Under any circumstances. The Lions draft WR's in the first round... enough said.

Many Bengals fans say that Collins is a better RT than LT.

Whit played a lot of RT in his first season and also for the National Champion LSU Tigers. He is also paid OT like money, so there's a good chance he moves to one of the T spots this year.

Consider that the Bengals are attempting to re-sign Andrews and there is at least 3 players who can do a decent job at RT on the Cincinnati Bengals. They are also apparently very high on the Dennis Roland kid.

I'm warming slighty on the idea that of the Bengals drafting Andre Smith, but the fact that they didn't even interview him at the Combine tells me that the Bengals have likely removed him from their draft board. There shouldn't be that many question marks about a player going in the Top 6 of the entire draft and this would be a much different discussion if we were debating the #38 pick. The most valuable positions in football right now are QB's, CB's, LT's and pash rushers in that order, as those positions impact football games more dynamically. This is our highest draft position in 10 years and we have to get a player that changes games. RTs, although serviceable, do not change football games. We can find a decent one in free agency or later in the draft, as we did last season.

We have a chance to take the best pash rusher in the entire draft, and I'd much rather have that sort of player than a questionable RT or WR.

[Whur CHad At?]

Everrett Brown a possiblity? Peter Boulware FROM...Florida State. Everett Brown FROM...Florida State. I don't know we will have to watch and see.

I think that Collins can be a good RT and has already shown it as well as ROland. The guy is 6-9 and is just a monster.

[HAPPYJAQ]

Everrett Brown a possiblity? Peter Boulware FROM...Florida State. Everett Brown FROM...Florida State. I don't know we will have to watch and see.

I think that Collins can be a good RT and has already shown it as well as ROland. The guy is 6-9 and is just a monster.

I think Brown is the best pash rusher in the draft but am a little leary on FSU D-linemen (still scarred from Reinard Wilson). That said, he looks the part and Todd McShay had him going to Cleveland at #5 in his latest mock.

They're saying that Everett Brown and Aaron Maybin came out a year too early and would've been possibly Top 5 picks in 2010. Of the two, I think Maybin has the most upside but Brown will probably contribute more in year 1. Maybin is only around 235 pounds, I believe, but he has tremendous upper body strength. We might see a Derrick Harvey-type situation where one of those guys shoots up after tomorrow. Harvey looks like he's going to be a stud, though.

[HairOnFire]

Andre Smith could be an effective RT and looks like a more natural fit on the right side but if he can't play LT and block the QB's blindside, the #6 pick is too high.

A couple of points. My opinion that Smith projects best as a RT isn't uncommon, but it's just as true to say many others still consider Smith to be the very best LT prospect in the coming draft. In fact, most of the so called experts who weighed in on the subject during the NFL Networks coverage fell into one of two camps. Those who felt Smith remained as he best LT prospect included Charlie Casserly, Jon Gruden, and retired NFL OT Jamie Dukes....who went on to claim 49'er head coach Mike Singletary is so enamored with drafting Smith that any slide he experiences on draft day won't go further than the #10 slot. Meanwhile, the camp claiming Smith was instant garbage largely consists of noted NFL greats like Mike Mayock and Charles Davis, previously best known as answers to trivia questions nobody bothers asking.

Just saying...

[HAPPYJAQ]

I've been a NFL draft enthusiast for over 20 years and will say that Andre Smith is not an NFL LT. He doesn't have the feet to play on the left side, especially in our division where we face two seperate 3-4 teams. He struggled with the speed guys in college in a 65/35 run offense in college.

Do you really want to see him matched one-on-one with Terrell Suggs, James Harrison/LaMarr Woodley or Aaron Curry for 6 or more games a season, while protecting Carson's blind side?

I think his best position as a pro will be RG and he could be dominant there. It's kinda like Robert Gallery, who was an all-world OT prospect coming out who didn't have the feet for OT at the NFL. He found a home at G and has played well there. The problem is that, since he was drafted so high and now plays guard, his production will never match his salary. For the record, Gallery was a much better prospect at the same point than Andre Smith. A better comparison to Andre Smith is Leonard Davis, who was highly touted at Texas and struggled at OT before moving to G. He's now on on the highest paid G's in the game, but would be to high to draft at #6 overall.

And this is my limited evaulation of him on his ability and talent alone, not considering the other major intangible questions (conditioning, durability, technique, discipline/focus, etc.) about him.

[Whur CHad At?]

I think that Andre Smith compares to Levi Brown from the Cards. He is a RT and is rather solid

[HairOnFire]

Do you really want to see him matched one-on-one with Terrell Suggs, James Harrison/LaMarr Woodley or Aaron Curry for 6 or more games a season, while protecting Carson's blind side?

Asked and answered at least three times already.

You don't think any RT is worthy of the #6 slot. I get that. I disagree, but we're clear. But again, you've got to draft somebody and I'd much rather draft a player who could become a Pro Bowl worthy ORT than a boom or bust OLT prospect like Oher.

[HAPPYJAQ]

Do you really want to see him matched one-on-one with Terrell Suggs, James Harrison/LaMarr Woodley or Aaron Curry for 6 or more games a season, while protecting Carson's blind side?

Asked and answered at least three times already.

You don't think any RT is worthy of the #6 slot. I get that. I disagree, but we're clear. But again, you've got to draft somebody and I'd much rather draft a player who could become a Pro Bowl worthy ORT than a boom or bust OLT prospect like Oher.

I see your points but I'd rather not go OT at all. A rookie OT is not going to help this team win games next year more than some combination of Levi, Whit or Collins (or a quality free agent that plays OT, for that matter). Orakpo, Raji or Maybin would have a far greater impact next season at a position where it's harder to find high quality and impact players.

[Whur CHad At?]

If Marvin said that there are no tackles worth the #6 pick I am going to take his word Draft D.