Sorry to interrupt...

[West Coast Bengal]

Seriously,

Tank Johnson, Keith Rivers coming back, Geathers hitting what I hope will be his prime year with the support of a better staff of DTs...

and now we add Rey Rey and Williams to the mix.

Honestly, I haven't been this excited about a defensive staff in a very very long time.

In other years, we place our hopes on things...

This year, with the coaching staff and all these new players.... I cannot wait!

(crossing fingers about the offense)

[jditty47]

i ain't saying anything yet. I loved the year we got Pollack and Thurman too.

[West Coast Bengal]

i ain't saying anything yet. I loved the year we got Pollack and Thurman too.

See... and that year, we improved so much. If it weren't for the tragedy that happened to Pollack, and the problems of Thurman, we could've built off of that team.

By the way, what is the current standing of Thurman?

Strange to ask, but it's been a while since he came up.

[whizzo]

indefinitely suspended.

[Bearcat1975]

I don't remember the last time I have been this pleased with a Bengals draft.

Have to give the Bengals staff credit for putting together an A+ draft class. At least 3 of them look to be immediate starters.

I don't know if Mike Brown took vacation this weekend or what, but if he was involved I have to give him credit too.

[BengalszoneBilly]

I don't remember the last time I have been this pleased with a Bengals draft.

The last time I was this happy was back in '03 when the Bengals took Palmer at #1. I don't remember much after that because I went out and got trashed. Good times.

[jjakq27]

I don't remember the last time I have been this pleased with a Bengals draft.

The last time I was this happy was back in '03 when the Bengals took Palmer at #1. I don't remember much after that because I went out and got trashed. Good times.

Steinbach at 2, Squirrel Boy in the 3rd. Man that seems so long ago.

[BengalszoneBilly]

I don't remember the last time I have been this pleased with a Bengals draft.

The last time I was this happy was back in '03 when the Bengals took Palmer at #1. I don't remember much after that because I went out and got trashed. Good times.

Steinbach at 2, Squirrel Boy in the 3rd. Man that seems so long ago.

Thanks for reminding me Tony.

[jjakq27]

I don't remember the last time I have been this pleased with a Bengals draft.

The last time I was this happy was back in '03 when the Bengals took Palmer at #1. I don't remember much after that because I went out and got trashed. Good times.

Steinbach at 2, Squirrel Boy in the 3rd. Man that seems so long ago.

Thanks for reminding me Tony.

You're welcome. Sounds like a couple of nags in a horse race.

[HairOnFire]

I don't remember the last time I have been this pleased with a Bengals draft.

Have to give the Bengals staff credit for putting together an A+ draft class. At least 3 of them look to be immediate starters.

I don't know if Mike Brown took vacation this weekend or what, but if he was involved I have to give him credit too.

Anybody catch Marvin on the NFLNetwork immediately after the first 3rd round pick? The talking heads were gushing about the Bengals early haul and instead of basking in the praise Marvin reminded everyone...."I don't make the final call around here." He then remarked about how much time he and Mike spent together, without any other coaches, putting together the Bengals draft board. And later, on ESPN Lewis remarked about how the Bengals success in this draft was the result of Mike insisting the Bengals stick to their draft board at #38 despite the number of teams calling with trade offers.

Frankly, as much as I love this draft it still feels very much like a Mike Brown draft in all the familiar ways, both good and bad. Lot's of "prove it to me" picks. Lot's of character questions. Lot's of upside that may or may not come to fruition. Smart picks in so many ways, but more risk than most teams would be comfortable with. And finally, a draft that paid very little lip service to the results of the combine. Remember, Andre Smith left early and created a media firestorm, and Rey tweaked his hamstring right out of the box.

Just saying....

[Kazkal]

Well that and the whole Connections thing

Ray Maualuga-Keith Rivers

Trent-Leon Hall

Michael Johnson-Eric Henderson

[jjakq27]

I don't remember the last time I have been this pleased with a Bengals draft.

Have to give the Bengals staff credit for putting together an A+ draft class. At least 3 of them look to be immediate starters.

I don't know if Mike Brown took vacation this weekend or what, but if he was involved I have to give him credit too.

Anybody catch Marvin on the NFLNetwork immediately after the first 3rd round pick? The talking heads were gushing about the Bengals early haul and instead of basking in the praise Marvin reminded everyone...."I don't make the final call around here." He then remarked about how much time he and Mike spent together, without any other coaches, putting together the Bengals draft board. And later, on ESPN Lewis remarked about how the Bengals success in this draft was the result of Mike insisting the Bengals stick to their draft board at #38 despite the number of teams calling with trade offers.

Frankly, as much as I love this draft it still feels very much like a Mike Brown draft in all the familiar ways, both good and bad. Lot's of "prove it to me" picks. Lot's of character questions. Lot's of upside that may or may not come to fruition. Smart picks in so many ways, but more risk than most teams would be comfortable with. And finally, a draft that paid very little lip service to the results of the combine. Remember, Andre Smith left early and created a media firestorm, and Rey tweaked his hamstring right out of the box.

Just saying....

It's funny how their (Mike's) business model differs from their draft model. They seem to be ultra-conservative in how they operate yet always seem to be a little bit on the edge when it comes to the draft.

[derekshank]

Well that and the whole Connections thing

Ray Maualuga-Keith Rivers

Trent-Leon Hall

Michael Johnson-Eric Henderson

Just another reason I preferred Caldwell to Luigs.

[derekshank]

I don't remember the last time I have been this pleased with a Bengals draft.

Have to give the Bengals staff credit for putting together an A+ draft class. At least 3 of them look to be immediate starters.

I don't know if Mike Brown took vacation this weekend or what, but if he was involved I have to give him credit too.

Anybody catch Marvin on the NFLNetwork immediately after the first 3rd round pick? The talking heads were gushing about the Bengals early haul and instead of basking in the praise Marvin reminded everyone...."I don't make the final call around here." He then remarked about how much time he and Mike spent together, without any other coaches, putting together the Bengals draft board. And later, on ESPN Lewis remarked about how the Bengals success in this draft was the result of Mike insisting the Bengals stick to their draft board at #38 despite the number of teams calling with trade offers.

Frankly, as much as I love this draft it still feels very much like a Mike Brown draft in all the familiar ways, both good and bad. Lot's of "prove it to me" picks. Lot's of character questions. Lot's of upside that may or may not come to fruition. Smart picks in so many ways, but more risk than most teams would be comfortable with. And finally, a draft that paid very little lip service to the results of the combine. Remember, Andre Smith left early and created a media firestorm, and Rey tweaked his hamstring right out of the box.

Just saying....

Yeah... Also let's not act like they were draft geniuses here.

Andre Smith was the obvious pick.

Any person on this forum would have taken Maualuga not dreaming in a million years he would have fallen.

Michael Johnson was also by far the most talented pick available at the time, and the pass rush is the defense's major weakness.

Chase Coffman was the first time in the Marvin era that a high quality pass catching TE fell to a valuable draft slot available to them.

Jonathan Luigs was the obvious choice being the only remaining starting caliber Center, and likely the Bengals greatest position of need.

I'm not taking anything away from the draft here, because it was amazing. However... they didn't get aggressive to trade up. They merely got lucky that high quality players dropped to them. There was no master plan that came to fruition. Just a draft board that fell better than anyone could have hoped.

[Kazkal]

Yup and to mikey all you need is some luck and you'll win the superbowl!With that being said I'm glad the guys fell to us!

[ArmyBengal]

I love the draft and the players we got, risk or not, but I'm fairly confident in saying it was lucky as hell those players were there and yes, d*mn near anyone of us could have made those picks. I'll just continue with my happiness and thank God our draft didn't turn out like the Raiders. Way to go Al Davis !!!

[HairOnFire]

I love the draft and the players we got, risk or not, but I'm fairly confident in saying it was lucky as hell those players were there and yes, d*mn near anyone of us could have made those picks.

I disagree. According to months and months of pre-draft yammering most of us would have selected a Center at #38 regardless of how great a reach it might have been. Or failing that we would have reached one round later.

Frankly, it's been my experience that groupthink isn't really thinking at all and the consensus opinion is valuable only because of how often it projects a lesser return. because most people focus too much upon risk and not enough on potential return.

In fact, had the Bengals actually done what "damn near everyone" wanted we might be sitting here today wondering what would have been possible had the Bengals not traded multiple picks to trade up from #38 to get Alex Mack.

On paper the Bengals not only got it right, but did far better than most of us dreamed. And that was true because they focused on BPA and didn't budge from their pre-draft rankings. So let's give 'em some heartfelt credit rather than spouting stuff about a blind squirrel stumbling over a nut.

[ArmyBengal]

I love the draft and the players we got, risk or not, but I'm fairly confident in saying it was lucky as hell those players were there and yes, d*mn near anyone of us could have made those picks.

I disagree. According to months and months of pre-draft yammering most of us would have selected a Center at #38 regardless of how great a reach it might have been. Or failing that we would have reached one round later.

Frankly, it's been my experience that groupthink isn't really thinking at all and the consensus opinion is valuable only because of how often it projects a lesser return. because most people focus too much upon risk and not enough on potential return.

In fact, had the Bengals actually done what "damn near everyone" wanted we might be sitting here today wondering what would have been possible had the Bengals not traded multiple picks to trade up from #38 to get Alex Mack.

On paper the Bengals not only got it right, but did far better than most of us dreamed. And that was true because they focused on BPA and didn't budge from their pre-draft rankings. So let's give 'em some heartfelt credit rather than spouting stuff about a blind squirrel stumbling over a nut.

I agree that most, ESPECIALLY MYSELF, wanted a Center at #38, but that was before Maualuga dropped into our laps. I recall you making the argument that a player just may fall to us that would keep us from taking the Center there and you were all over that. With that player being Maualuga, there was little room to argue the pick of a guy who some had top 10.

I'm not one of those however, that wanted to trade up into the first to get Mack and actually thought he might just get to us in the second. Had that happened, I still think the value of Maualuga would have been the obvious pick, but it would have been a little closer.

All that being said, I still say they got lucky. Sure they stuck to their draft board, but very few boards had Maualuga rated lower than the Centers and the ones that did, I would argue got it wrong, but that's why I'm in the Army and not an NFL employee.

My point is, they were obvious picks and had the Bengals missed on those players of need by a few spots, people would be going off about how the Bengals did there typical draft day "sit and wait" and blew it by taking some lower rated talent instead of getting "their" guy. That didn't happen though and players fell to them and here we sit listening to analysts talk about how the "sit and wait" approach worked for the Bengals. So I'll stick with there being a luck factor involved in at least the first 3 picks that made them very obvious considering their needs.

[HairOnFire]

I agree that most, ESPECIALLY MYSELF, wanted a Center at #38, but that was before Maualuga dropped into our laps. I recall you making the argument that a player just may fall to us that would keep us from taking the Center there and you were all over that. With that player being Maualuga, there was little room to argue the pick of a guy who some had top 10.

But that's exactly thr point I've been trying to make for weeks and months. If it wasn't Maualuga who fell it would have been somebody else, and regardless of who it turned out to be (Plug in a half dozen names here) selecting the BPA was always going to be a better strategy than reaching for the 3rd best Center prospect.

All that being said, I still say they got lucky. Sure they stuck to their draft board, but very few boards had Maualuga rated lower than the Centers and the ones that did, I would argue got it wrong....

Again, it's not about Maualuga. It's about staying true to your draft rankings, taking the BPA, and hoping the draft breaks your way. And if it doesn't then you take your lumps and wake up Monday morning trying to fix what's still broken. But no team can rebuild using a strategy based upon reaching due to need. It's not sustainable. We've proven that.

So I'll stick with there being a luck factor involved in at least the first 3 picks that made them very obvious considering their needs.

Luck plays a part in every draft. That said, there wasn't anything lucky about the Bengals refusal to panic. For once they set their board and let things come to them instead of forcing the issue.