Wraith's Post Combine Mock

[Wraith]

First Round.

1. Kansas City. Luke Joeckel, LT, Texas A&M *projecting a trade for Alex Smith*

2. Jacksonville. Geno Smith, QB, West Virginia

3. Oakland. Dee Milliner, CB, Alabama

4. Philadelphia. Dion Jordan, DE/OLB, Oregon

5. Detroit. Chance Womack, OG, Alabama

6. Cleveland. Cordarrelle Patterson, WR, Tennessee

7. Arizona. Tyler Wilson, QB, Arkansas *I have him rated as a mid to late twenties talent but I think QB will be way overrated this year because of last years success*

8. Buffalo. Matt Barkley, QB, USC *see Wilson, Tyler*

9. N.Y. Jets. Sheldon Richardson, DT, Missouri

10. Tennessee. Ziggy Ansiah, DE/OLB, BYU

11. San Diego. Bjoern Warner, DE, Florida State

12. Miami. Xavier Rhodes, CB, Florida State

13. Tampa Bay. Jarvis Jones, OLB, Georgia

14. Carolina. Barkevious Mingo, DE/OLB, LSU

15. New Orleans. Desmond Trufant, CB, Washington

16. Saint Louis. Keenan Allen, WR, California

17. Pittsburgh. Eric Fisher, OT, Central Michigan

18. Dallas. Sharif Floyd, DT, Florida

19. N.Y. Giants. Sam Montgomery, OLB, LSU

20. Chicago. Kevin Minter, ILB, North Carolina

21. Cincinnati. Tavon Austin, KR/PR/RB/WR, West Virginia *more on this in a bit*

22. Saint Louis. Eddie Lacy, RB, Alabama

23. Minnesota. Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee

24. Indianapolis. Star Lotulelei, DT, Utah

25. Seattle. Datone Jones, DE, UCLA

26. Green Bay. D.J. Fluker, OT, Miami

27. Houston. Tyler Eifert, TE, Notre Dame

28. Denver. Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma

29. New England. Kenny Vaccaro, S, Texas

30. Atlanta. Alex Okafor, DE, Texas

31. San Francisco. Jesse Williams, DT/3-4DE, Alabama

32. Baltimore. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson

Second Round. *through the Bengals 2nd, 2nd round selection*

33. Jacksonville. Margus Hunt, DE, SMU

34. Kansas City. Johnathan Banks, CB, Mississippi State

35. Philadelphia. Larry Warford, OG, Kentucky

36. Detroit. Giovani Bernard, RB, North Carolina

37. Cincinnati. Barrett Jones, OG/OC, Alabama

38. Arizona. Johnathan Cooper, OG, North Carolina

39. N.Y. Jets. Brian Schwenke, OC, California

40. Tennessee. Brian Winters, OG, Kent State

41. Buffalo. Kyle Long, OT/OG, Oregon

42. Miami. Travis Frederick, OC, Wisconsin

43. Tampa Bay. John Cyprien, S, Florida International

44. Carolina. Arthur Brown, ILB, Kansas State

45. San Diego. Kawann Short, DT, Purdue

46. Saint Louis. Eric Reid, S, LSU

47. Dallas. Matt Elam, S, Florida

48. Pittsburgh. David Amerson, CB/S, North Carolina

49. N.Y. Giants. Alec Ogletree, ILB, Georgia

50. Chicago. Robert Woods, WR, USC

51. Washington. Zach Ertz, TE, Stanford

52. Minnesota. Jamar Taylor, CB, Boise State

53. Cincinnati. Khaseem Greene, OLB, Rutgers

My Bengals Draft Picks Revised.

First Round #21: Tavon Austin, WR/RB/KR/PR, West Virginia. After watching this kid I am convinced he is the X-Factor this team needs. He can be our Percy Harvin without the baggage. Line him up at WR, RB, he will immediately be our KR and PR and let him make plays all over the field. Over 7,000 all purpose yards and 40 TDs for West Virginia.

Second Round #37: Barrett Jones, OC, Alabama. I haven't changed my position on this guy it is just more likely that he will slide to us at the top of Rd. 2.

Second Round #52: Khaseem Greene, OLB, Rutgers. Converted Safety makes plays all over the field, move Maualuga back to strong side OLB, move Burfict to his natural ILB position and this guy takes Howard's spot at weak side OLB. Play making machine can drop into coverage, is smooth, makes good reads, has great instincts and is perfect for our defense.

Third Round #84: D.J. Swearinger, S, South Carolina. Love this guys' style of play team captain, hard-hitter, all over the field and a very good compliment to the guys we already have.

Fourth Round: Marcus Lattimore, RB, South Carolina. Yep, I am double dipping the Gamecocks. I think this is a good spot for Lattimore and a good gamble at this position on a guy who could be Adrian Peterson-like if he holds up.

Fifth Round: Steve Williams, CB, California. Speed.....small corner which goes against our trend with DBs but has speed and quickness to burn, put on a show at the combine but I liked him before that...see my previous mock.

Sixth Round a: T.J. Moe, WR, Missouri. This guy has great quickness and hands. Smallish.

Sixth Round b: David Bass, DE, Missouri Western. Same guy as before for the same reasons. Didn't stand out at the combine may move him down a bit.

[TJJackson]

i think Wraith really really likes the draft

I also think Wraith is still pining over Eric Henderson :-)

[Wraith]

i think Wraith really really likes the draft

I also think Wraith is still pining over Eric Henderson :-)

Obsessed might be the right word. I am pretty normal geek otherwise but something about the draft takes me over the edge. Perhaps it is the fact that for most of my life the draft was the only hope we Bengals fans had.

Honestly I have Pro Football Weekly's Draft Guides dating back to 1990.

[ArmyBengal]

I love the draft as well and it would seem Wraith and I have the same lines of thought.

I don't like the thought of Lattimore being our only RB in the draft unless we grab someone in FA.

Many might not like the thought of a WR in the first, but I wouldn't say it would surprise me either.

With Prater coming back healthy, that could mean the end of Pac Man if Austin were to be the pick.

That is, seeing as he would take the return duties.

I'm not a huge fan of using the combine as a reason to bump people all that much and there is still free agency to consider, but I too enjoy the hell out of the draft and all the time leading up to it.

[ArmyBengal]

On a side note, if we are using the combine as a means to move a player up on the board, there was another to mention:

Kniles Davis, RB, Arkansas

He had some injury issues, but boy did he have a good combine.

That size / speed ratio is off the charts for a RB.

[skyline]

On a side note, if we are using the combine as a means to move a player up on the board, there was another to mention:

Kniles Davis, RB, Arkansas

He had some injury issues, but boy did he have a good combine.

That size / speed ratio is off the charts for a RB.

Yeah, he looked great, but I believe the biggest knock on him was that he fumbled the ball nearly every time he touched it.

[HoosierCat]

I'm good with Austin in the first but I think Bengaldom in general will flip out (especially if Lacy goes with the next pick).

Whatever fans think of Cook, and I am not as down on him as many are, the team seems to like him. Robinson showed some stuff as well. So while I have no strong objection to Jones, I don't see it happening.

I'm cool with Greene.

Great work wraith!

[Wraith]

With Marcus Lattimore ancd Tavon Austin you are basicly getting 1 1/2 RBs. The way the Bengals' should use this guy is the same way Minnesota uses Percy Harvin. Line him up in the backfield, line him up in the slot, line him up in the HB position basicly make the defense think about this guy any time he is on the field that will open up Green, it will open up the middle of the field for Gresham, and it will make the other WRs better. Drafting Austin also eliminates the need for Bernard Scott since your "change of pace" guy will be Austin, you tube has some great video of Tavon Austin at West Virginia.

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AAWC5t0trY

[skyline]

Man. Put him and BJGE in the backfield at the same time and the defense would have no clue what was coming.

[ArmyBengal]

Good God, that highlight video is just sick.

I didn't know he was running the ball as well.

Yeah, that could change things up a bit.

[Wraith]

He had a game against Oklahoma where he rushed 21 times for 344 yards...yes in one game. Over 500 yards total offense in one game.

[redsbengalsbucks]

Tavon looks like he would solve alot of the O's problems from last season. Go get him Bengals!

[ArmyBengal]

After a performance like that, which only confirms what the scouts see on tape, it might be hard to see him get to us. Chicago is sitting right in front of us with a GREAT need at that spot as well.

[skyline]

After a performance like that, which only confirms what the scouts see on tape, it might be hard to see him get to us. Chicago is sitting right in front of us with a GREAT need at that spot as well.

Yep...it looks like most people see him as a top-15 pick now.

[Wraith]

I am hoping this trend toward bigger WRs might push him down to us, I am still seeing him projected as a mid-20's guy. The Bengals need versatile playmakers and that is Tavon Austin.

We really can't lose in theis draft IMHO though, there is so much depth at need positions, take Christine Michael at RB from Texas A&M for example....power, speed and quickness to burn and likely a 4th round selection because he got in the coaches doghouse his senior year (sounds like Terrel Davis to me). Knile Davis is another one. With Lattimore, Johnathan Franklin from UCLA, Giovani Bernard, Montee Ball, Leveon Bell, Eddie Lacy, and Stepfan Taylor from Stanford all available there is no need to reach high to get a RB that will be a long time impact performer.

There are at least 8 starting caliber Safeties in this draft I like D.J. Swearinger from South Carolina because he plays a man's game, but Vaccaro, Elam, Cyprien, Phillip Thomas from Fresno State, Reid, Shawn Williams from Georgia, or Baccari Rambo are all players would have the skills to be an impact safety in the NFL and at least one of them will slip to us in the 4th IMHO.

The Corners are so deep in this draft it doesn't even bear reporting, at one point there were 30 DBs that ran a sub 4.5 time at the combine.

There is great depth all along the D-Line so there is no need to reach there either.

I am looking for truly exceptional impact players for a first round selection and in this draft there are very few. Jarvis Jones will be an impact player at OLB but likely gone by the time we pick, Dion Jordan is an impact player but I will be shocked if he gets past Philly @ #4, Dee Milliner is the best CB in this draft definately gone top 10, Joekel and Fisher and Chance Womack are all exceptional O-Line prospects but again all gone by the top 15 at least and I think Barrett Jones will be an exceptional Center (but Centers rarely grade out as 1st round picks and I don't think many have Jones rated higher than a mid 2nd round selection at this point), that leaves just Tavon Austin in my opinion as the only 1st round guy that has the talent to be truly exceptional or at least stands out on tape as a guy who is just playing at a different level than the rest of the college players that is possible for the Bengals at #21. Because of this, if you grade your board and think that he might go to Chicago or Dallas and you have the ammunition to go up and get him (which the Bengals do) you MUST do that.

[ArmyBengal]

That's really the question that I always wonder about when it comes to the draft.

When you consider the fact that there are always players that fall for one reason or another, I wonder if there is a spot, when a player reaches that spot, the team considers trading up to get them?

Guys like Jarvis Jones, Dion Jordan, or even Tavon Austin at this point.

If they fall to say the 15-18 range, do they pull the trigger to get their guy?

Of course there has to be a willing participant, but I wonder who the player might be.

Most thought DeCastro would be gone by our pick, but then he got to us and we traded back.

Sort of like that but in reverse....

[Wraith]

You just need good intelligence when you are creating your boards, obviously the NFL teams have really good information and you should have your first few round targets and make sure you are in position to get your guys.

[ArmyBengal]

Yep indeed.

I would love to spend some time in their draft war room.

Just let me sit and a chair and listen.

I would be fascinated !!!

[Wraith]

Yep indeed.

I would love to spend some time in their draft war room.

Just let me sit and a chair and listen.

I would be fascinated !!!

absolutely though it depends on the draft, I might not be able to prevent myself from making comments. I was so mad during the Akili Smith draft that every word out of my mouth was preceeded by a curse. Tom Gamble interviewed me during that draft and he said "ok we will put you on the air but you can't cuss" and I couldn't do it I got halfway through my semi rational explaination as to why I wanted to throw a beer bottle through the TV at Damon's in Reading and it all decended into profanity.

[HoosierCat]

Slow day today (as some may have guessed). So I was looking at a few mocks and it seemed to me I was noticing more consistency further down than in some years past. So I did some comparisons and came up with a couple lists.

The first is a group of players who are almost certain to be the top 16 picks, in some order or another:

QB Geno Smith

WR Cordarrelle Patterson

OT Luke Joeckel

OT Eric Fisher

OT Lane Johnson

OG Chance Warmack

OG Jonathan Cooper

DT Sharrif Floyd

DT Star Lotuelei

DT Sheldon Richardson

CB Dee Milliner

CB Xavier Rhodes

DE Ezekiel Ansah

DE Dion Jordan

DE Damatrone Moore

LB Jarvis Jones

Then there's a group of about 11 guys who either show up in some top 16s, or in the 17-20 range:

QB Matt Barkley

WR Tavon Austin

TE Tyler Eiferet

OT D.J. Fluker

DT Kawann Short

DE Bjoern Werner

DE Dantone Jones

S Kenny Vaccaro

CB Desmond Trufant

LB Barkevious Mingo

LB Alec Ogletree

I'd say Eiferet (after his combine performance), Vaccaro and Mingo looked most likely to be gone as well. All of which is a long way of saying that, looking at that second list, I think Austin is BPA.

[ArmyBengal]

No Werner at the top ??

Have to think he's going in the top 16 easy.

Then again, you never know. There's a lot of talent in the first round this year.

It will all depend on the needs of teams ahead of us and the value of the pick.

Then again again, that's how it always is...

[HoosierCat]

Werner is there sometimes, but isn't a lock. Mayock was down on him recently, and there was some chatter around the combine about him being kind of "meh." Of course, you have to take that with a giant lump of salt since everything is someone's smoke there. The book on Bjoern was that he's a blue-collar/lunchpail/give-110%-every-play guy who doesn't really stand out in any one area. Someone, I think over at cbs sports, compared him to Chris Long, who I didn't like a few drafts back.

Mingo was a guy I saw slipping to the Bengals a few times that intrigues me as a weakside LB. He'd be a college DE conversion project though and those never seem to work out well in Cincy.

[TJJackson]

I think Jarvis Jones will slide into round 2 because of the medical issue

Its certainly possible some team's med staff will say he is not a risk - certainly he played extremely well for 2 years in college following the diagnosis - but I am guessing no NFL team will take that on that risk til he's in round 2 or lower (and ergo round 2 or lower money at risk)

[kingwilly]

Love the mock but for r1. Austin is too small. No question about the speed but in NFL everyone is fast.

No small RB/WR guys, who tore up FBS, have really made it in recent years..

Lemichael James, Jaquizz Rogers, javid Best... Only Sproles and Spiller has made something of a name, and they are way more powerful guys than Austin. Even Harvin is stouter... Heck, look what happened to Shipley, who went 195, not sub 175 like Austin.

Not sold on him as being durable enough for rigors of NFL... I don't think he'd be a smart r1 pick. For the role you are projecting, I would prefer Denard Robinson... In r2.

[ArmyBengal]

Denard Robinson is yet another pick that would result in me throwing my tv against the wall.

As a matter of fact, I would throw it against the wall and then repeatedly pick up the remaining large pieces and continue to throw them against the wall until they were small pieces. I then would pick those pieces up, stack them in the back yard, pour lighter fluid on them and set them to blaze, all while burning effigies of the entire front office and coaching staff.

Robinson doesn't fit as a QB and sucked running WR drills.

I guess his speed would make him a return guy ??

Nope, he's never done that either.

I expect the Raiders to draft him.