Superbowl bound

[walshfan]

We have all taken turns at projecting who will be chosen by the Bengals in the upcoming draft.. some say a wideout ( Williams, Clayton, Edwards) some say DT's or DE's and some have made the choices of CB's and OLB's or Safeties..

All good picks but we have only so many picks to really upgrade this team to contend next year..

My question is who and what position do we MOST NEED to upgrade this team and make it a legit contender next season?

Ill start off by saying the run defense is the most glaring weakness we have..

We made everyone look like Jim Brown last year.. I think we should address the run stuffing/pass rushing end of it and to fill both those needs at one time I think our pick should be Marcus Spears..6'4" 295lbs.. Could play the outside opposite Smith...play end in a 3-4..hell put another 10lbs on him and you have a quick DT to pressure the QB....this is just my opinion...one guy that we need most..If not Spears then someone like him to equally stop the run and pressure the QB..

[ArmyBengal]

Missing pieces huh ?? We need to stop the run. Whether it's our guys (Askew, Moore, so on) stepping up or via FA or draft, WE NEED TO STOP THE RUN. No stop run, no playoffs, plain and simple. Offense can't do it all (see Indy here). We need to put some consistent pressure on opposing QBs. Draft a pass rushing DT, DE or whatever, but we need to put pressure. Another safety with Madieu would solidfy things in the backfield and IMHO make things easier on Tory and Deltha. Regardless of their production or lackthereof, IMO I don't care if Herring and K2 pack their s**t and roll. On the offense, we have to get a young, nasty Center. Ritchie can school him this year and start getting him in there as well. WR, RB, TE is anyones guess at this point. I can see the need for any or all, for that matter. ML will take care of what he needs to and I will be happy, end of story. We can name names all day of who we would like, but these pieces or positions need addressed. God I hate this time of the year. Little or no news. Have a good one.

WHODEY !!!

[BengalszoneBilly]

Missing pieces huh ?? We need to stop the run. Whether it's our guys (Askew, Moore, so on) stepping up or via FA or draft, WE NEED TO STOP THE RUN. No stop run, no playoffs, plain and simple. Offense can't do it all (see Indy here). We need to put some consistent pressure on opposing QBs. Draft a pass rushing DT, DE or whatever, but we need to put pressure.

I'll second Army here! IMHO, most of the offensive pieces are in place. Not so defensively.

Wheather it's via the draft or free agency, the defense needs to be addressed first and foremost.

Just imagine the losses from last season that would have been wins had the Bengals defense been anywhere as stout as the Ravens was! I think it would have been the difference between 8-8, and 11-5 and the playoffs!

[BengalNation1281]

I think we go DE or SS in the 1st. Erasmus James or Ernest Shazor would be the ideal picks in my book (if James is still available at 17).

There are so many things that we need, whether they are short-term or long-term needs, that I really won't be disappointed with our draft as long as they include a SS, DE, DT, C, TE or WR. I would use day 1 on defense, day 2 to shore up the rest unless there is a C that will be worth a day 1 pick.

I don't know who our #1 will be...I want Shazor somewhere in there, but Spears, James, Derrick Johnson, Shaun Cody, Hawthorne...anybody would be fine as long as they can stop the run and pressure the QB.

Although I wouldn't be opposed to a DT in round 1, I would rather see the team sign a FA DT and use a later-round pick on a young DT that the veteran can groom, or use the FA to groom the young DTs that we already have. I think that Askew could still do some damage if he had a veteran that would be willing to put in the time to help him develop.

But that's just me.

BN1281