Schweinhart 1st Round Mock

[schweinhart]

Team need and best available with those needs in mind usually prevails as the main approach to the draft. I'd normally roll with that and would bump up CB and DE as 1st round priorities -- combined with their positional importance over safety or DT.

But this year looks different to me because of this: the Bengals most important component to win games is the quality and depth of its receiving corps and their ability to force defenses to defend the vertical game with Carson throwing his wicked brand of rope all over the field.

So this year I say draft to strength to keep the juggernaut on course, especially if the impact at drafting another position is not likely to be greatly more significant than drafting those positions in later rounds or filling some of those needs through free agency.

[kingwilly]

The Bengals need at S, whether addressed in FA or the draft is greater than that of WR.

The Bengals probelm was never scroing points, no matter which WR was on the field...CH, Walter, Wash...or when TJ was out or when CH was sat down....that tells me the #3,4,5 in depth still made plays.

With the injury to Madieu and Herring our secondary had to go out and grab Ohalete..who had been cut by AZ...not even good enough to be a back-up out there!?! The depth at S..KK, Mithcell and the Ohalete were weak in run and pass support...aside from S our D-Line needs some re-tooling. B-Rob did not make the impact (imrove our pass rush or Run D) and Thornton, while steady, is the weak link in that he is re-routed and taken out of plays by one O-lineman. The DE's, also steady, but fall short...Geathers gets handled...Justin gets some pressure but is contained when doubled and then wastes gobs of energy chasing plays he usually has no chance to make (in my opinion would be an excellent 3-4 OLB). Take a look...

Geathers/S. Smith B. Rob/r3 guy M. Askew/Fanene

Pollack Odell Landon/Simmons J. Smith

Deltha r1/r2 SS Madieu r1/r2Tory

So, with the drastic decline of play from the D as the year went on, thet've got to address it first..in FA and or Draft.

To your point of needing a WR, with henry in Limbo, I think better value can be had in r4-6, while not compromising the option of taking better talent (guys with a chance to start) early on. I'm actually not even taht worried abotu whihc position they take in r1-4, as long is it is D or one of the top TE's...

One more point about the Offense. If we do, somehow, grab a Davis, Lewis, Pope, I think we get more dangerous than if they took an early WR. Imagine the set of CJ, TJ, K-Wash and a Pope...with perry coming from the backfield....who's gonna defend that? Not the soon to be depleted Stiller D. TE is as drastic a need as S, with 2 of our pathetic 3 becoming UFA's. Find the TE with the best combo of skills and character and sign him up...we don't need another "homey" like henry, skills be damned. You can have skills and not be a criminal.

...I will now end my rant.

[schweinhart]

The Bengals need at S, whether addressed in FA or the draft is greater than that of WR.

The immediate need yes, but the potential need no...one play away from a #3 being a #1, but the below does wash some of that mainly because Palmer is the QB

The Bengals probelm was never scroing points, no matter which WR was on the field...CH, Walter, Wash...or when TJ was out or when CH was sat down....that tells me the #3,4,5 in depth still made plays.

Take a look...

Geathers/S. Smith B. Rob/r3 guy M. Askew/Fanene

Pollack Odell Landon/Simmons J. Smith

Deltha r1/r2 SS Madieu r1/r2Tory

This alignment became clearer when I hit reply and it spread out. I would say Shaun Smith at nose given his size and experience in a 3-man front in college. Thornton is out of this picture but I'd say he make a much better 3-4 DE than he'll ever be as a 4-3 DT. The LB lineup looks wicked. Makes you wonder, eh?

To your point of needing a WR, with henry in Limbo, I think better value can be had in r4-6, while not compromising the option of taking better talent (guys with a chance to start) early on. I'm actually not even taht worried abotu whihc position they take in r1-4, as long is it is D or one of the top TE's...

Day 2 WR has some merit but the drop-off would be significant. No question the D and TE has to be addressed and this particluar draft with its depth at safety, TE, and D-line mid-round talent still meets the Bengals needs well after rounds 1 and 2.

One more point about the Offense. If we do, somehow, grab a Davis, Lewis, Pope, I think we get more dangerous than if they took an early WR. Imagine the set of CJ, TJ, K-Wash and a Pope...with perry coming from the backfield....who's gonna defend that?

Not many, provided of course that the O-line gives Palmer the time to throw. But I still like getting Demetrius Williams in the 1st and getting an extra 3rd rounder out of K-Dub to use for defense.

[schweinhart]

1. Texans: Vince Young QB: On February 8, the Falcons will likely opt for Option B with QB David Carr, signing him to a 2 year deal with a $5.5 million signing bonus then either trade him during preseason or keep him around for 1 more year. But Texans owner Bob McNair can't risk losing Houston's native son to either his market competition in New Orleans or former Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams in Tennessee.

Strike this one. NFLN has got the Texans picking up option B on Carr -- $8 mill SB with 3 yrs. Seems to me like there's no way the Texans would pay $3 mill more than they needed to under the lesser option amount if they intended to trade him this year or keep him 1 year then trade him after Vince Young was groomed for a year.

Kubiak must have enough faith in Carr to stake his claim on it -- 208 sacks and all. And McNair must be willing to hand the reigns over to his Houston Boy Kubiak.

What was the Heisman? Bush, Young, and Leinart? Looks like it'll be the draft order too.

[Kazkal]

"20. Chiefs: Haloti Ngata DT: The Chiefs need a big body up front and roll with this giant even if at times he looks more like his name should be Wholelotta Nada."

if he feel that far I'd demand the bengals trade up 16-19 and get him

PS,I think Ngata still needs work so if somehow we did get him I'd want us to draft a D-linecoach well were @ it /joking

[HairOnFire]

"20. Chiefs: Haloti Ngata DT: The Chiefs need a big body up front and roll with this giant even if at times he looks more like his name should be Wholelotta Nada."

if he feel that far I'd demand the bengals trade up 16-19 and get him

Romeo Crennel just admitted on the NFL Network that Ngata won't make it past the Browns if he falls that far. And the reason he was willing to tip his hand is because he felt there was zero chance whatsoever Ngata will fall past the top 10.

[schweinhart]

I would maybe believed that Hair, but Phil Savage about wet himself puffing up Ngata. I can't see a GM carrying on like that unless he's putting out the word he wants to trade up to get the guy -- which I can't see why he would since he could tell that to the front office people from the other teams at the combine -- or he doesn't want the guy to fall to their spot so another better player can drop down to them and they don't get stuck listening to the "Why didn't they..." routine from their fans if they were forced to let Ngata keep sliding on by. Gotta wonder because both Romeo and Dr. Phil sure clammed up when Rich asked them who they did like with the pick.

Or maybe not.

I would say Ngata is better suited as a 4-3 DT than a 3-4 NT anyway. I've watched him line up straight over center and while their was some pop there on the initial bullrush, Ngata wasn't knocking anybody off their feet to get into the backfield and he seemed to lack ferocity. He's agile enough to stunt from 4-3 DT though, as long as he don't get knocked off balance, but his primary strength is that he is just so flat out huge he should be able to hold a gap so long as he don't play high. If he plays high, he's done because he can't stop his own momentum when a lineman gets underneath his pads.

Personally, I still think Claude Wroten is the best DT in the draft but also he apparently is a monumental idiot. Bunkley would be my 2nd choice, even at 3-4 NT because of the quickness he's got to get by either shoulder of the center. However, Ngata is so big that even if he just holds a gap in a 4-3 vs. the run, he'd be successful. I had the Rams passing him by in this mock and taking Tye Hill but mistakenly had them minus 2 key CBs already on their roster. I think the team need and best available interface does make a huge difference in the Rams case because the sure things in this draft really seem to fall fast after the Top 10 and the Rams need lots of help defensively. With DT starters Ryan Pickett and Damione Lewis both free agents, a huge hole is left at DT for the Rams (even though neither of that pair looked at all effective when I had a chance to watch them some at the end of the season).

So Ngata may go high because he's huge and has got some agility. But I don't see him being better than Maake Kemoeatu.