Section 310 Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 There is a good article on Bengals.com about the lack of top notchtalent available in this year's draft. Aside from the top 5 or so players,all the NFL "experts" cannot agree on which players deserve to beselected in the middle of the 1st round. Kiper discussed this problemon ESPN radio. He said that there is a good deal of qualityin rounds 2-4, but that there is wide disagreement amongst analystsabout the relative value of individual players. For example, the Arkansas QB turned TE...Kiper has him in the 4th round whereasMortensen thinks he is the best player available in the draft. Otherguys like Luis Castillo are projected anywhere from 15 to 50. Eventhe center mentioned on this board (Spencer??) is projected anywherefrom the beginning of round 2 to the end of round 3. I think this will make it difficult for the Bengals to trade down unlessa guy like Mike Williams or Pac Man Jones somehow slides to 17. Thatsaid, if the Bengals could drop down into the late 20's and graban extra 3rd round pick, I think they would be foolish to pass upthe trade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrishcovga Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 There is a good article on Bengals.com about the lack of top notchtalent available in this year's draft. Aside from the top 5 or so players,all the NFL "experts" cannot agree on which players deserve to beselected in the middle of the 1st round. Kiper discussed this problemon ESPN radio. He said that there is a good deal of qualityin rounds 2-4, but that there is wide disagreement amongst analystsabout the relative value of individual players. For example, the Arkansas QB turned TE...Kiper has him in the 4th round whereasMortensen thinks he is the best player available in the draft. Otherguys like Luis Castillo are projected anywhere from 15 to 50. Eventhe center mentioned on this board (Spencer??) is projected anywherefrom the beginning of round 2 to the end of round 3. I think this will make it difficult for the Bengals to trade down unlessa guy like Mike Williams or Pac Man Jones somehow slides to 17. Thatsaid, if the Bengals could drop down into the late 20's and graban extra 3rd round pick, I think they would be foolish to pass upthe trade. I think the problem with these articles is the fact that the people reporting them are not now, nor have they ever been an nfl scout especially Mel " the Hair " Kiper.If there is indeed a lack of upper echelon talent, than why did the Miami Hurricanes put so many first rounders into the nfl over the last couple of seasons. What about Ohio States players , and look at this year's 10 players that will be drafted all from the university of Oklahoma ?What they're not addressing is the gap that separates what a first rounder and a 2nd rounder is has closed. Cincinnati of all teams can lead that arguement considering how many busts we've had in the first round , and the value of players we've made up for it in the second round. But the real problem is the hype machine! Guys like Mortensen and Kiper who've been on the take from agents like Rosenhaus, etc.. pushed players value so high they were never able to reach them, and thus the media machine they created behind those players turns against them. Look, it doesn't take a genius to figure out who'll succeed and who won't in the NFL. Even the so-called " sleeper " pick was a guy that dominated at some level or another. Injuries aside, there is no determing ability to forsee how well a players college career will translate into a successful NFL career. That's the reason why REAL scouts use words like, Ceiling,Floor,Intangibles,Upside, Peak etc. etc. , and Journalists like Kiper and Mortensen use words like Potential !!You want an example, look at Oklahoma's Dan Cody. He was at one time listed as Kipers' top player in the draft. But now that the REAL scouts have spoken about his inability to add weight, his medical "head-case" background, and the fact that he's shun workouts probably means he's got more questions to answer than anything resembling Potential. But some team will like him, or believe the hype, and he'll go somewhere in round one or no later than round 2 that's for sure. * However if you can't separate the athletic differences between a guy like Marcus Spears, and Chris Canty, then you probably shouldn't be working around the NFL in the first place! :player: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Section 310 Posted March 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 I know people like to bang on Kiper, but I saw Mock Draft report cardcovering several seasons and he had done pretty well. That is,he was pretty good at pinpointing when players would be drafted...not necessarily predicting who would be the best players.The other site that stacked up well was the Great Blue North Draft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shworge Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 Everyone continues to talk about how the Bengals need to trade down, which would be great. The problem is finding somebody to trade with that will give you good value for your pick. The true strength of this draft lies at the bottom third of the first round and through rounds 2-4. Why would someone give up 2nd, 3rd or 4th round picks to move up to 17 to get a player with a very similar grade to what they can get at 25 or 30? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJJackson Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 The opportunity to trade down, if it happens at all, will come during the draft itself when 1) the Bengals are up at 17and2) a player coveted by some other team is available at that spotand3) the other team does not expect the player to last til their next pickand4) they have an offer of value to the BengalsI have hopes this will happen again this year as well. My favorite scenario is where the Eagles give up their 31 and 35 plus some other second day pick for the Bengals 17 to take a WR who has slipped. There's going to be a lot of value at 31 and 35.The trades won't happen before then because the team trading for 17 will want to know what they are getting at 17. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairOnFire Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 Trading down is always going to be an attractive potential option if a suitable trade partner calls. That's probably a given every year. That said, I've always liked the idea of staying at #17 precisely because of the great number of prospects deemed worthy of the pick. The more options the better, right? As I said in an earlier thread, I've never had a short list as long as this years, and I think that's a very good thing. And perhaps best of all, the larger than average mix of comparably ranked players should allow a head coach to give more weight to factors like coachability, personality, ability to provide immediate impact, and yes....pure freaking need...rather than making final judements based upon pure athletic ability. Let some other team lose their collective heads chasing potential. For example, just this morning I've bumped into three seperate threads championing Matt Jones, apparently this drafts latest poster child for PGS (Pretty Girl Syndrome). Jones is indeed an elite athlete and he may turn out to be the biggest star from this draft. But I can't add him to the huge and overflowing short lists at #17 and #48 precisely because there are so many other options that don't have to be taught the very basics of the position they're expected to fill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengalboomer7 Posted March 31, 2005 Report Share Posted March 31, 2005 I agree Hairon fire, we drafted oiur super freak project last year in Stacey Andrews Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.