Hobson on the draft

[Kazkal]

Another defensive draft?

By GEOFF HOBSON

January 17, 2006

8:35 p.m.

The Bengals’ top needs in the April NFL Draft are as easy as one, two, three.

Defense, defense, defense.

Well, make that defense, defense, tight end, but you get the idea. It would surprise no one if the Bengals repeat last year and take defense with their top two picks

At least for now, look for the Bengals to attack their backup quarterback problem via free agency while trying to address their ample defensive agenda with what looks to be the 24th pick in the draft.

At this stage, every draft board (if a team even has one this early) is like a finger print. No two are alike. So while one draftnick, like Jerry Jones of “The Drugstore List,” projects Georgia strong safety Greg Blue as a possible first-round pick for the Bengals, ESPN’s Mel Kiper, Jr. doesn’t list Blue as one of his top eight safeties and Scouts Inc. is projecting the Bengals to select Florida State defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley.

When the Bengals’ scouts and coaches head to the scouting combine in Indianapolis late next month, the Bengals’ board won’t bear any resemblance to the one they’re working off of now. They’re waiting for the final list of juniors to be released this week, and they still have to scout this week’s East-West Shrine Game and next week’s Senior Bowl.

POSSIBLE No. 24s:

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1. Greg Blue, SS, Georgia, 6-2, 210: Big hitter, but can he run and cover well enough?

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2. Brodrick Bunkley, DT, Florida State, 6-2, 285: Sacks (9) and TFLs (25) hard to ignore. The Bengals have enough 280-pound tackles, but he’ll grow.

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3.Donte Whitner, SS, Ohio State, 5-11, 205: A good run player, some think he might be able to play a little corner a la Madieu Williams.

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4. Ashton Youboty, CB, Ohio State, 6-1, 190: First-team All Big 10 who is the latest in a line of savvy Buckeye corners.

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5.Orien Harris, DT, Miami of Florida, 6-3, 307: Rated 25th on Kiper’s board after coming off a better senior season than junior season.

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6. Roman Harper, SS Alabama, 6-0, 196: He’s known as a guy who gets people down on the ground with good instincts and size, which is what you would think is exactly what they’re looking for.

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7. DeMario Minter, CB, Georgia, 5-11, 200: Keeping it in the Bulldog family. At Georgia, you have to play the run, too.

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8. Pat Watkins, SS, Florida State, 6-4, 202: He’d add some size and range and is known as a good run player.

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9. Thomas Howard, LB, UTEP, 6-2, 230: Maybe, just maybe, he could make the transition to safety, where he once played. Kiper lists him as a top 5 backer in a deep field.

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10. Mathias Kiwanuka, DE, Boston College 6-5, 260: Rated No. 23 on Kiper’s board, he may not be the good enough pass rusher that they would seek at that spot.

One thing for sure is those first two picks are going to be playing soon. In head coach Marvin Lewis' first three drafts, five of the seven players taken in the first two rounds are starting, and the other two (running back Chris Perry and cornerback Keiwan Ratliff) play regularly on third down.

The 6-2, 210-pound Blue is a good place to start for a team that has drafted three Georgia defensive starters in the past two years in end Robert Geathers and linebackers David Pollack and Odell Thurman.

Strong safety is the glaring need when it comes to allowing big plays and missed tackles. Blue won’t miss many tackles, but the Bengals have to decide if he’s fast enough to take that high as some clubs mull if he’s a weak-side linebacker.

The Bengals also have to decide if they want to take a safety that high, but there is a track record n the past decade of the good ones going in that range. Look no further than two future Hall-of-Fame safeties in the Bengals’ own division. The Ravens took Ed Reed with that 24th pick and the Steelers took Troy Polamalu 16th. The Jaguars took Donovin Darius 25th, the Patriots took Lawyer Milloy 36th, the Bears took Mike Brown 39th and the Eagles took Michael Lewis 58th.

One safety getting play on more than one board is Ohio State junior Donte Whitner. And, by the way, the next Buckeye who qualifies for the Bengals all-time roster is the 20th, most of any school.

“He goes after the run and some think he’s tough enough that he can also play some cornerback,” Jones says and Kiper has him rated as his third best safety.

Even though the Bengals are going to line up with cornerbacks who played in the last two Pro Bowls in Deltha O’Neal and Tory James, the Bengals wouldn’t bypass one if he was the best player on the board. Another junior Buckeye, Ashton Youboty, is a fast riser and is ranked as the 30th top player on the Scouts Inc. board.

“Part of the reason for looking at this guy that early is Shawn Springs, Nate Clements, Antonio Winfield, Chris Gamble,” says Jones of past first-round OSU corners. “They’re so well-schooled and this kid is productive and a good run defender.”

Other corners to keep an eye on late in the first round are, yes, another Georgia guy in DeMario Minter and Penn State’s Alan Zemaitis. The 6-1, 202-pound Zemaitis has a rep as a zone player who is aggressive against the run and can learn to survive in man-to-man while the 5-11, 200-pound Minter is known as a good cover guy who can blitz.

Another interesting guy to keep an eye on is UTEP linebacker Thomas Howard. The 6-2, 230-pound Howard walked on as a defensive back, and maybe he could play safety with his 4.4-second speed in the 40-yard dash.

Defensive tackles also figure to get plenty of play in the Bengals’ room. Massive Haloti Ngata of Oregon (6-5, 338) figures to be long gone by the time the Bengals pick (he’s 10th overall on Kiper’s big board) and Jones also thinks 334-pound Gabe Watson of Michigan won’t be there.

But Jones thinks the 6-2, 285-pound Bunkley very well could be there, and he’s rated No. 17 on the Scouts Inc. board.

“Those guys don’t have a problem getting bigger once they get out of college and get older,” Jones says. “The guy is a run stuffer, but look at his numbers this year. The unusual thing is that for a good run player, he had nine sacks and 25 tackles for loss. That’s from inside, and he’s good at holding the point of attack.”

They may not get a shot at the huge guys, but Miami of Florida’s Orien Harris, a 6-3, 307-pounder, was fast enough to put together a much more consistent season than junior season. One guy who does have intriguing size is the 6-5, 306-pound Rodrique Wright of Texas. Jones calls him “an enigma,” a guy who didn’t blow people away in games but who has great physical talent, yet isn’t listed among Kiper’s top five tackles or in the Scouts Inc. top 32.

As the Bengals begin their transition from the playoffs to the offseason, all appears quiet with their coaching staff. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Tuesday that tight ends coach Jonathan Hayes won't become new head coach Chuck Long's offensive coordinator at San Diego State.

No mention of bing,huff or simpson I've seen only 2 names out of 10 he listed so far for people talking about possible bengals

[NJ29]

Your Subtitle says it all. Eh.

No way we take Youboty or Blue, and if we take Whitner, we don't have to do it in the first round.

[schweinhart]

7. DeMario Minter, CB, Georgia, 5-11, 200: Keeping it in the Bulldog family. At Georgia, you have to play the run, too.

Gimme him. The only thing I got concerns about with Minter is how high he takes on TE and WR blocks. He's got to get off them blocks. After watching the replay of the Sugar Bowl, I'm pretty sure Minter could be ready to play an interchangeable safety spot, too, but his strength is cover corner.

But there's a good chance Minter will be there in Round 2 and if he's not Whitner should be because "some think he might be able to play a little corner ala Madieu Williams" is a little too dicey to burn on a first.

Of all those listed, Kiwi trumps. I doubt he lasts that long and he could be any worse than what the Bengals currently have rushing off the edge.

[Tasher]

This is MISINFORMATION or better yet, DISINFORMATION from Hobson and the Bengals!

They are purposefully trying to mislead and conceal their true direction! Every draft board has just about everyone of those guys as 2nd round or later or going way before we pick at 24.

Check the sites: nobody is high on Bunkley (as he is just that); he has done nothing but underachieve his entire career. He is 285 for Criss Sake! I don't care how good he is, at 285 he is not the solution for us no matter how many Big Willie fat burgers he eats between now and opening day. (Unless he weighs in at the combine at 310! course then he'd be slow and below average at best!)

There is NO mention of Ko Simpson or Darnell Bing! These are both much more likely choices.

CB? DE? Granted these are needs, but not glaring like SS and DT. Round 1/2 are devoted to these two positions! mark my words (unless we trade, then all bets are off).

Rule #1: never, ever draft a guy (or girl for that matter, since this is an equal opportunity site!) that is going to live down to a name (see BUNKley); BING on the other hand, that would be a good pick, BING, BAM, BOOM!

BTW, Marv HATES converted college LBs into NFL safeties...

[Kazkal]

last year i dont even think hobson mentioned single guy we drafted before the draft saw mainly stuff about davis and miller by him but then again we really don't know either how teams will draft

[HairOnFire]

BING on the other hand, that would be a good pick, BING, BAM, BOOM!

Hey, that's my line. In fact, I've written two posts that were entirely composed with those three words...Bing. Bang. Boom. What's more, I've already got a commitee drawing up designs for the BingBangBoom T-shirts, hats, and sports bras that will be produced should Bing be drafted by the Bengals. So do you think you can steal my intellectual property without asking first, or without paying royalties, ala the Chinese government?

Then again, I'm absoluetly loving the camel toe on the cheerleader in your signature, so I say we call it even.

[schweinhart]

I seriously doubt Hobson was given some secret envelope of draft picks under false consideration so that some subterfuge could be achieved to dupe other NFL teams about who the Bengals are really thinking about drafting.

It's pretty clear it's just his speculation based on Scouts, Inc. Smell Kiper, and Jerry Jones player rankings and who he might think fit in the Bengals plans.

But all the players he's got listed are reaches except for Kiwi who just might slide that far now tha Tamba Hali has shown how well-conditioned and non-stop he is.

Thomas Howard is probably the most interesting player on his list because he's a 240 LB converted LB from safety who actually has covered WRs in man out of the slot for UTEP. I doubt the 4.38 40 speed his coach said he has will hold up at the combine but he's still plenty fast. After watching him a couple times last year and this year, the rap for Howard I would say is his toughness against the run as a LB for starters and whether or not he's agile enough to transition for the coverages needed at safety.

Pat Watkins is another inriguing player. A skinny giant of a free safety whose not afraid to hit. His last game as a Seminole was real impressive. But he's still a project IMO. In 2 or 3 years he might be a 6-5/240 pound freak in the secondary who nobody wants a piece of.

[Tasher]

Okay.

but i get BaDa BING! BaDa BOOM

oh and then theres BINGals!

[schweinhart]

Somebody might have to take Bing A Ling before it's all said and done.

[HairOnFire]

but i get BaDa BING! BaDa BOOM

Fine, but before you print your own T-shirts I'd get an envelope of tribute money ready for Tony Soprano.

Back to the topic, anyone who has a long memory can tell you that Hobson's first comments on which players the Bengals might be interested in are almost always shockingly bad, and I don't think it's done deliberately to throw teams off the Bengals true path. He's just bad at this sorta stuff.

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Hobson got his info from Jerry Jones - who's book is in every war room on draft day. So I don't know what you guys are going on about.

Pat Watkins is a stud - can't pass him up if he's there.

I really like Whitner also - hope he drops to the 2nd - or even Yubouty - but that's doubtful.

They do need depth at safety badly obviously - but they have no young, core players on the D-line or at CB. Ratliff and Geathers don't qualify at this point.

They have some good young rotation players like Smith and Fanene and Geathers and Ratliff - but no impact starting quality types.

Brian Simmons isn't getting any younger or better either.

As you get into this - you can see why the defense is so bad, and has so many holes to fill. Gonna be a challenge for Marvin.

[HoosierCat]

As you get into this - you can see why the defense is so bad, and has so many holes to fill.

No, it doesn't. Like you said, we have plenty of young talent; what we lack is one or two impact players. But we have 2-3 potential studs in Madieu, Odell and Pollack. The former was out this year, while the latter were rooks. The combined potential of those three when they are all healthy and know what they are doing is frightening.

The real missing piece is a stud on the d-line; that Sapp-Gardener-Simon type that Marvin has been trying to lure to Cincy for years. Maybe this is the year they finally land someone decent in FA at DE or DT. Given that they've tried every year so far, I expect they'll take some shots this time, too.