Draft debates revisited.

[HairOnFire]

Cincinnati Bengals might have drafted Darrelle Revis if they'd had the chance

By Manish Mehta/The Star-Ledger

January 08, 2010, 7:24PM

CINCINNATI — Kevin Coyle still marvels at the magic of that day three years ago.

Inside an empty meeting room this week, the Cincinnati Bengals defensive backs coach grabbed three water bottles off a table and aligned them into an L-shaped configuration on the carpeted floor.

“I’ll show you what he did,” Coyle said, recreating the exact moment that Darrelle Revis got everyone’s attention at his pro workout at the University of Pittsburgh.

Coyle set up a makeshift three-cone agility drill, a fitness test designed to gauge speed, change of direction, body control and cutting ability. He mimicked Revis’ movements, running around the second cone before slowly rotating his hips clockwise as he cut around the third cone.

“Normally when you run, your whole body turns,” Coyle said with a laugh. “He flipped his hips the opposite direction and didn’t miss a beat. What an unbelievably athletic move. I hadn’t seen it before, and I haven’t seen it since.”

The Bengals never had an opportunity to select Revis in the 2007 draft when the Jets traded up from No. 25 to nab him with the 14th overall pick. Cincinnati took Leon Hall from Michigan four picks later to help form the NFL’s best cornerback tandem with Johnathan Joseph.

When Revis and Hall, two of the elite young corners in the league, square off in Saturday’s wild-card game, consider this: If not for the Jets’ draft-day gamble to move up, Revis Island might have been located along the banks of the Ohio River and Hall might have been a Jet.

“It’s possible,” Hall said of the near switch-a-roo. “You can always look at the what ifs. You never know.”

Hall and Revis finished tied for second in the AFC — and fifth in the NFL — with six interceptions this season. Hall’s 27 passes defensed trailed Revis’ league-leading 34. Although Hall has emerged as an air-tight defensive back in his third season, Revis has become a candidate for Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Coyle, of course, wasn’t alone in his astonishment three years ago at Revis’ workout.

Terry Bradway, the Jets director of player personnel, was stranded at the snowed-in Pittsburgh Airport after the workout but couldn’t wait to get back to the Jets brass for his evaluation. So, he called general manager Mike Tannenbaum right away.

“Mike,” Bradway told him, “We have no shot at this guy at 25. No way.”

Bradway and Coyle were buddies from way back, graduate assistants at the University of Cincinnati who remained close through the years. But the friends differed slightly in their cornerback rankings entering the 2007 draft. (Revis, Hall and Aaron Ross of Texas were the consensus Top 3 cornerbacks).

“We liked Revis, Hall and Ross in that order,” Bradway said.

Said Coyle: “Leon was 1A. Darrelle was 1B. Leon was coming out of college a little more polished technically and disciplined. His overall fundamentals and mechanics were a notch above any guy in the draft that year.”

Bradway’s biggest concern was Revis’ level of competition. While Hall faced quality Big Ten receivers each week, Revis’ toughest wideout was Louisville’s Mario Urrutia. So, the Jets combed through every game tape hoping to find instances when Revis — who came out a year early — was tested down the field.

Bradway gave first-round grades to all three cornerbacks, but the organization was blown away by Revis’ man- and zone-coverage prowess, ball skills and run support ability. So they targeted him first.

“Darrelle was the guy we were going to trade up for,” Bradway said. “He was the guy we identified was worth spending picks to go up and get of all those three.”

When discussions with the Texans for the No. 10 overall pick stalled, the Jets turned to the Carolina Panthers at No. 14. If a deal couldn’t be brokered, Bradway said they conceivably could have selected Hall at No. 25 if he fell to them.

Instead, the Jets dealt their first-, second and fifth-rounders in exchange for the No. 14 pick and Carolina’s sixth-rounder.

“They believed in my talent and thought I had the potential to be the player I am today,” Revis said. “I appreciate those guys. I told them they wouldn’t be sorry for drafting me and I want to be here forever if I can.”

Manish Mehta may be reached at mmehta@starledger.com

[Kazkal]

Well If our 2nd round would have panned out it wouldn't be a bad trade off...but being our 2nd rounder was the bust we drafted in Kenny irons.

[jjakq27]

Interesting story. Oh the what ifs?

Hall has become a solid DB. Knowing the Bengals philosophy, they were content to stay put and take the best player left. In fact they were probably happy that Hall was there based on the comments from Coyle about his "polish".

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Well If our 2nd round would have panned out it wouldn't be a bad trade off...but being our 2nd rounder was the bust we drafted in Kenny irons.

That's injuries. At the time I recall people being fairly enthused about Irons, he looked very athletic. Too bad he shredded his ACL.

I'm still happy with Hall where we drafted him.

[Kazkal]

oh No doubt,still wish he had atleast a chance....But highly drafted Bengal backs come to cinci to die >_<