Your 2017 Bengals Draft Class

[ArmyBengal]

Ross and Mixon, if not starting, are massive contributors and will impact the game simply being on the field. (2)
Jordan and Lawson, at least one of them, will be a backup DE this year, with potential to grow in the position. (3 maybe 4)
Josh Malone will compete for and have a good chance at making the roster and Glasgow fills depth at DT right away. (4 maybe 5)
Elliott is the starting kicker without an ounce of hesitation. (5 maybe 6)
After that Brandon Wilson has every chance under the sun to make this team at either CB, RB, KR.  Gio is hurt and Burkhead is gone.

The way I see this class is a solid 5-6 either start or have a large impact on the 2017 season.
I didn't feel that way heading into the draft.

Two ??  C'mon RBB, you don't have to love the draft results, but two ??
I think people have too much love for guys like Peerman, Core, and Clarke.
It's not like they can't be upgraded and that is exactly what everyone has asked for.
NEVER STOP TRYING TO UPGRADE.  Well, they did that with this draft.

While i'm still not at an "A" for the draft, I think they did a very good job.
I still would have preferred Jake Butt over Karl Lawson.

[BengalszoneBilly]

1 hour ago, redsbengalsbucks said:

Wow I see 2 possible starters in Ross and mixon, with limited touches.  Every other pick looks like depth, insurance for next year, PS or camp body 

I see the the kicker we took in the 5th getting the starting job.

[COB]

I failed to emphasize I see 4 or 5 starters in '18, not '17.  This year we'll get starter type contributions from Ross, Mixon, and the kicker. I say starter like because there is no true starter at platoon type positions like RB and to some extend DE.  

By 2018 the center, Dielman, could easily beat out Bodine and be starting.  Also by then one of the DEs will likely be in the regular rotation (I'm counting that as starting), it'll probably be the kid from Kansas State.

[redsbengalsbucks]

Yes I forgot the kicker, so 3 starters.

2 with minimal contributions without injuries ahead of them

2-3 more that actually could make the team

the others will fight for PS spots 

that is just the way I see these picks falling

i will love it when/if I'm wrong

lawson is actually one I think will make the team, but big Jake would have been a better pick 

[BengalszoneBilly]

43 minutes ago, redsbengalsbucks said:

Yes I forgot the kicker, so 3 starters.

2 with minimal contributions without injuries ahead of them

2-3 more that actually could make the team

the others will fight for PS spots 

that is just the way I see these picks falling

i will love it when/if I'm wrong

lawson is actually one I think will make the team, but big Jake would have been a better pick 

Everyone always forgets about kickers until there's less than a minute on the clock in the 4th quarter and you're in field goal range with the game on the line.

[TJJackson]

BZB, there was no way I'd forget about PK after the year we had last year, and the success Baltimore had with Tucker

But

I won't be forgetting that even though they took a kicker right where I had felt they needed to, they didn't take the BEST kicker

[ShulaSteakhouse]

10 hours ago, HoosierCat said:

Reuter gives then an A-

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000804541/article/2017-nfl-draft-quicksnap-grades-for-all-32-teams

Worth noting hardly any teams received anything below a B grade, 23 teams got an A/A- grade.  

[ArmyBengal]

I noticed that in a lot of places as well Shula.
Is that a further reflection of sports these days ??
Everyone gets a gold star for participating.
JOB WELL DONE !!!  NO LOSERS !!!

[kingwilly]

2 hours ago, ShulaSteakhouse said:

Worth noting hardly any teams received anything below a B grade, 23 teams got an A/A- grade.  

I think it reflects the quality of players this year. Compare it to a year like 2013, it's not comparable. 

[Stripes]

A bunch of writers did that.  They're too shy to give bad grades.  When you give a team a "B-" you really can't be wrong either way.

[Kazkal]

10 hours ago, BengalszoneBilly said:

I see the the kicker we took in the 5th getting the starting job.

I saw them mentioning big thing I'd mixed extra points but does college football still do the easy ones or did they change it like the nfl

[AMPHAR]

15 hours ago, ArmyBengal said:

I noticed that in a lot of places as well Shula.
Is that a further reflection of sports these days ??
Everyone gets a gold star for participating.
JOB WELL DONE !!!  NO LOSERS !!!

I think it's more of a sign that journalism in this country is dead, dead, dead.

Gone are the true draft pundits that actually scouted and ranked players based on their own evaluation.     The model today is based on "inside sources" from NFL teams to evaluate players.

So the media "draft boards or top 150" are going to follow by and large the consensus of the NFL.   With some smoke screen mixed in that creates the "great value" like a Jordan Willis or Billings last year.

So when NFL teams are following the value boards the only subjective piece from the draft grade is someone's evaluation of the team's need.

Gone are the days of Jerry Jones drug store list in which he would grade the players on his own and was so good at it, Paul Brown let him in the war room.

It's the same in College Recruiting in every spot men and women's.   You see it all the time were a player pops out of nowhere then all of sudden Coach K and Calapari show up at a AAU game and now the kid goes from unknown to 5 stars.

It's just a shame.    Only a couple might be doing evaluation.  I suspect Mayock  does but still he isn't going to go out on a limb to destroy his reputation which is getting him mega paid as an analyst so I'm sure he's moved up and down several players when he thinks he has good information from a team.

That's probably why the majority of draft grades are about the same.   Nobody has the balls or information to support their judgement that player A graded by NFL personnel gurus to be a First rounder really can't play at that level.     It's only a couple big misses like that and your cushy paycheck is gone.

 

 

[AMPHAR]

NFL system gives a team 7 new players a year.     The Bengals grabbed 5 players from the top 75, alone.

It's a homerun draft just based on this.    Ross, Mixon, Lawson, Willis, and Malone all tremendous steals that fell to them.

Keep in mind this all based on paper rankings.     Then given last year's draft the Bengals have increased their speed and athleticism.    Don't be surprised when the random sports writer shows up to training camp and starts the "Bengals have top 5 roster" talk again.    

 

[membengal]

21 minutes ago, AMPHAR said:

NFL system gives a team 7 new players a year.     The Bengals grabbed 5 players from the top 75, alone.

It's a homerun draft just based on this.    Ross, Mixon, Lawson, Willis, and Malone all tremendous steals that fell to them.

Keep in mind this all based on paper rankings.     Then given last year's draft the Bengals have increased their speed and athleticism.    Don't be surprised when the random sports writer shows up to training camp and starts the "Bengals have top 5 roster" talk again.    

 

Yup. And, from my perspective, a throwback draft for the organization in the sense that the guys taken through the kicker pick in round 5 will all see the field this year (health permitting) - no "red shirt" top of draft pick, which was what pissed me off so much about the ogbuehi draft or even the Jackson pick last year (Jackson came into camp 5th at best on depth chart at CB)...

[TJJackson]

I think the pick of Jackson at CB last year more about the run on WRs right before our pick - I suspect we wanted one of those three and didnt think they'd all be gone when we picked....but they were.

The draft did not fall well to us last year.

Then again, lets say we had retained one of the two OLs we lost but as a result lost Kirkpatrick - then Jackson becomes more important. Now Ogbeuhi on the other hand - taking an injured player who wouldn't see the field all year in r1? Yeah, that sucked bigtime. They should have taken a healthy guy, even with throwing out hindsight being 20/20

[GapControl]

Using ourlads as a reference,  the Bengals are going to have an all out war for d line spots.

http://www.ourlads.com/nfldepthcharts/depthchart/CIN

I count 16 guys including Carl Lawson who are battling to make it.  All of them are guys whose names you know as either a decent draft pick or a UDFA who has put some quality tape together.

[ArmyBengal]

Well, I look at the d-line much like I look at any spot.
I think it's easy to become more invested in a guy that's been here than someone new.
That being said, it wouldn't shock me to see someone like Sims sent walking again.

Chris Smith ??  Ryan Brown ??  David Dean ??  Who ??
Even DeShawn Williams, Brandon Thompson and Wallace Gilberry.
What about Fat Pat ??  They've cut him before.
That's 7 dudes that could all be gone with less thought than some think.

I don't expect them to part ways with Fat Pat, but moves like that shouldn't come as a surprise.

 

 

[AMPHAR]

O-line/D-line is going to be interesting in training camp.   Last year early reports were the O-line was dominated by the Bengals and then by the Vikings.

So you are going to have Veterans trying to prove themselves on the o-line and then intense roster and snap competition on the D-line.

Too bad we are under a soft NFL now a days.   If this was back in the 90s there would be epic intra squad scrimmages.  

 

[COB]

The o-line got dominated, you say?  It'll be worse this year.  The Bengals' plan regarding o-line remains a mystery.  

Sadly, I suspect they let Obueghi flounder for a while, throw up their hands, then determine who can more capably handle LT between Fisher and Andre Smith, move them there and keep rolling.  I just can't see another strategy right now.

[GapControl]

[kingwilly]

14 hours ago, ArmyBengal said:

Well, I look at the d-line much like I look at any spot.
I think it's easy to become more invested in a guy that's been here than someone new.
That being said, it wouldn't shock me to see someone like Sims sent walking again.

Chris Smith ??  Ryan Brown ??  David Dean ??  Who ??
Even DeShawn Williams, Brandon Thompson and Wallace Gilberry.
What about Fat Pat ??  They've cut him before.
That's 7 dudes that could all be gone with less thought than some think.

I don't expect them to part ways with Fat Pat, but moves like that shouldn't come as a surprise.

 

 

You've got to wonder about Thompson. They've gotten next to zero production from him but still string it along. The readiness of guys like Billings, Hardison, etc should bump him from the plans. There's only so long you can drag it out. 

[ArmyBengal]

If Billings and Hardison are healthy from day one and stay that way, they are two players i'm very excited about entering this year.

The o-line ??  Yeah, I have no reason to believe they are going to be anything special.
However, there are reasons to believe they might be better than they were last year.
They sucked last year WITH Zeitler and Big Whit, so in all honesty they could get better.

Ogboogie is back at his natural LT spot from college and will have all of camp to get more familiar.
Likewise, the thought is that Fisher will be the RT with Moobs moving into the RG spot.
I look at those two much in the same way that being in those spots from day one will help.

Do I expect a smaller version of the Dallas o-line ??  Hell no, but they could be better than last year.
I'm holding out hope for that to come to fruition.  What other option do we have ??

[TJJackson]

I couldnt disagree with you more, Army - you lose the best two players from a shitty Oline and you get better? I'd say you get worse. With Oogie at OLT, Dalton (and soon thereafter Mr Katherine Webb) better have a medical crew on standby

[ArmyBengal]

Well again I said I have no reason to believe they will be special, but I honestly think there is a chance they could do better than last year.

They sucked last year with Whit and KZ. This year they go into camp with players set from day one. They won't begin the season trying to figure out where so and so "could" fit.

It's Boogie, Boling, Bodine, Moobs, and Fisher. It will remain that way pending injuries and they won't be toying with it from week to week.

I've always been a fan of Moobs and OG might be a better fit. I really don't have great issues with Fisher at RT. Boogie is the wildcard from last year but again, I'm hoping him being set at his natural position and handling things from day one in camp pays off.

I'm not claiming there's any guarantees to that but it's not out of the realm of possibility either. 

I'm simply hoping for the best and looking for reasons we could improve.

The reasons they may not are blatantly obvious.

[COB]

Good draft class, but a GREAT draft.

I'm speaking specifically about Roger Goodell wiping a booger on the back of a one-legged girl.  He's so hardcore, he doesn't give two shits what anyone thinks.  

I honestly didn't think the Gasmask Bongface draft could be topped.  But Goodell plays for fucking keeps, and he topped it.