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04-27-2009, 07:25 PM
The Cincinnati Bengals selected Andre Smith with the #6 overall pick in the NFL draft this past weekend. This was the first pick of what most experts considered to be a strong draft for the historically draft-inept franchise.
A rundown of all their picks:
1st Round = Andre Smith, OT
- It was apparent to anyone following the Bengals that the offensive line was their most pressing need. Most Bengals fans were expecting, or at least hopeful, that the decision-makers would do something to help protect Carson Palmer better than he had been. So a stud left tackle was the only choice that made sense. It is interesting to note that when Cincy's pick came up, they actually had their choice of either Andre Smith or Eugene Monroe, who was rated higher than Smith on most pre-draft evaluations as the "safer" pick. However, considering the problems Levi Jones has had out of his knees the last couple years, Monroe's own knee issues may have scared away the Bengals. Regardless, if he lives up to his potential, Smith can be a better left tackle than either Monroe or #2 overall pick Jason Smith.
2nd Round = Rey Maualuga, LB
- This was the spot where I figured the Bengals would grab a center. Alex Mack and Eric Wood were already gone by this time, but Max Unger was still available. However, I guess the allure of Maualuga was too much too pass up, even though LB was not a pressing need. Most draft boards would consider this a steal, as he was a projected first-round pick. The interesting thing here is that Maualuga will be paired with former USC teammate Keith Rivers on the Cincy linebacking corps. With the two of them plus veterans Dhani Jones and Rashad Jeanty, the Bengals have a pretty good LB rotation for next year.
3rd Round = Michael Johnson, DE
- In my pre-draft prediction, I had felt that the Bengals would go with a DE here, what with Antwan Odom and Robert Geathers coming off a disappointing year. This is potentially a very good pick, as most evaluations noted that he had first-round talent when motivated. If Mike Zimmer can find the right carrot to dangle in front of him, he could be another steal.
3rd Round = Chase Coffman, TE
- This was also felt to be a good value pick by most experts. Coffman may have been the best pass-catching TE in the draft, but his lack of blocking skills kept him from going higher. That shouldn't be a big problem in Cincy, where Reggie Kelly (the anti-Coffman) already serves the role of blocking TE. Hopefully Coffman will give Carson Palmer another short-yardage target.
4th Round = Jonathan Luigs, C
- Finally, the Bengals take a center, filling a position they desperately needed. In my opinion, this was the second most pressing need on the team, so I was a little surprised they waited until their fifth pick to take one. I thought they might go with Unger in the 2nd round, then I figured they would take Antoine Caldwell with their first pick in the 3rd round. But, in the end they got the guy that was pegged as the fifth-best center in the draft, so not too bad after all.
5th Round = Kevin Huber, P
- Although at first I thought to myself "What in the heck are they doing?", the more I thought about it the more I like this pick. Kyle Larson, the Bengals' incumbent punter, had a very poor year in 2008, so the team was probably going to at least sign an undrafted player after the weekend. But if you're going to upgrade the position, might as well go and get the guy who was the consensus top punter in the draft. He will most likely start next year in my opinion.
6th Round = Morgan Trent, CB
- Gotta give props to BFritz for predicting this pick. I had thought they would grab a backup corner in the 5th/6th rounds, but I had no idea who, so good job on nailing this one. This pick seems solid, because while the Bengals have two solid starters in Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph, they did need some depth at corner.
6th Round = Bernard Scott, RB
- Good grief. Just when you thought the Bengals had gotten over taking guys with shady backgrounds, they go and take a guy with enough baggage to take a vacation with. While it sounds like this guy is extremely talented, he also has a long history of scrapes with the law. At least if he screws up and they have to cut him, all they're losing is a guy who was the last pick of the 6th round.
7th Round = Taufui Vakapuna, FB
- The future of this pick depends solely on Jeremi Johnson, who spent the entire 2008 season on Injured Reserve after showing up to camp overweight. If Johnson is back to his form of a couple years ago, Vakapuna will be either on the practice squad or cut. If not, he could make the active roster.
7th Round = Clinton McDonald, DT and Freddie Brown, WR
- These two picks near the end of the draft will both be long shots to make the team, and will be prime candidates for the practice squad.
A rundown of all their picks:
1st Round = Andre Smith, OT
- It was apparent to anyone following the Bengals that the offensive line was their most pressing need. Most Bengals fans were expecting, or at least hopeful, that the decision-makers would do something to help protect Carson Palmer better than he had been. So a stud left tackle was the only choice that made sense. It is interesting to note that when Cincy's pick came up, they actually had their choice of either Andre Smith or Eugene Monroe, who was rated higher than Smith on most pre-draft evaluations as the "safer" pick. However, considering the problems Levi Jones has had out of his knees the last couple years, Monroe's own knee issues may have scared away the Bengals. Regardless, if he lives up to his potential, Smith can be a better left tackle than either Monroe or #2 overall pick Jason Smith.
2nd Round = Rey Maualuga, LB
- This was the spot where I figured the Bengals would grab a center. Alex Mack and Eric Wood were already gone by this time, but Max Unger was still available. However, I guess the allure of Maualuga was too much too pass up, even though LB was not a pressing need. Most draft boards would consider this a steal, as he was a projected first-round pick. The interesting thing here is that Maualuga will be paired with former USC teammate Keith Rivers on the Cincy linebacking corps. With the two of them plus veterans Dhani Jones and Rashad Jeanty, the Bengals have a pretty good LB rotation for next year.
3rd Round = Michael Johnson, DE
- In my pre-draft prediction, I had felt that the Bengals would go with a DE here, what with Antwan Odom and Robert Geathers coming off a disappointing year. This is potentially a very good pick, as most evaluations noted that he had first-round talent when motivated. If Mike Zimmer can find the right carrot to dangle in front of him, he could be another steal.
3rd Round = Chase Coffman, TE
- This was also felt to be a good value pick by most experts. Coffman may have been the best pass-catching TE in the draft, but his lack of blocking skills kept him from going higher. That shouldn't be a big problem in Cincy, where Reggie Kelly (the anti-Coffman) already serves the role of blocking TE. Hopefully Coffman will give Carson Palmer another short-yardage target.
4th Round = Jonathan Luigs, C
- Finally, the Bengals take a center, filling a position they desperately needed. In my opinion, this was the second most pressing need on the team, so I was a little surprised they waited until their fifth pick to take one. I thought they might go with Unger in the 2nd round, then I figured they would take Antoine Caldwell with their first pick in the 3rd round. But, in the end they got the guy that was pegged as the fifth-best center in the draft, so not too bad after all.
5th Round = Kevin Huber, P
- Although at first I thought to myself "What in the heck are they doing?", the more I thought about it the more I like this pick. Kyle Larson, the Bengals' incumbent punter, had a very poor year in 2008, so the team was probably going to at least sign an undrafted player after the weekend. But if you're going to upgrade the position, might as well go and get the guy who was the consensus top punter in the draft. He will most likely start next year in my opinion.
6th Round = Morgan Trent, CB
- Gotta give props to BFritz for predicting this pick. I had thought they would grab a backup corner in the 5th/6th rounds, but I had no idea who, so good job on nailing this one. This pick seems solid, because while the Bengals have two solid starters in Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph, they did need some depth at corner.
6th Round = Bernard Scott, RB
- Good grief. Just when you thought the Bengals had gotten over taking guys with shady backgrounds, they go and take a guy with enough baggage to take a vacation with. While it sounds like this guy is extremely talented, he also has a long history of scrapes with the law. At least if he screws up and they have to cut him, all they're losing is a guy who was the last pick of the 6th round.
7th Round = Taufui Vakapuna, FB
- The future of this pick depends solely on Jeremi Johnson, who spent the entire 2008 season on Injured Reserve after showing up to camp overweight. If Johnson is back to his form of a couple years ago, Vakapuna will be either on the practice squad or cut. If not, he could make the active roster.
7th Round = Clinton McDonald, DT and Freddie Brown, WR
- These two picks near the end of the draft will both be long shots to make the team, and will be prime candidates for the practice squad.
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04-28-2009, 11:52 PM
C'mon, BFritz, what's your opinion on the draft? I thought sure I would hear from you by now!
I gave you props for nailing the Morgan Trent pick, at least you could post in my thread... :biggrin:
I gave you props for nailing the Morgan Trent pick, at least you could post in my thread... :biggrin:
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04-29-2009, 03:06 PM
The only issue that I had was using the 5th round pick on a punter. I'd have rather seen them take a better defensive back or running back with this pick. All in all, this was a very solid job by the Bengals. Now, if we can just keep Smith Healthy. Looking that the Bengal's first round picks since 2000, every single one has had the bad luck of injury.
04-29-2009, 09:00 PM
Stardust Wrote:The only issue that I had was using the 5th round pick on a punter. I'd have rather seen them take a better defensive back or running back with this pick. All in all, this was a very solid job by the Bengals. Now, if we can just keep Smith Healthy. Looking that the Bengal's first round picks since 2000, every single one has had the bad luck of injury.
I agree.
04-30-2009, 12:07 AM
More Cowbell Wrote:C'mon, BFritz, what's your opinion on the draft? I thought sure I would hear from you by now!
I gave you props for nailing the Morgan Trent pick, at least you could post in my thread... :biggrin:
Been busy, SON:1:
I was loving this because it was one of the best drafts in the whole league and probably the best in the franchise's history.
This draft was amazing for us because we got three guys in the first 3 rounds who all could have gone in the first round, and the rest of the picks were also solid players that filled needs.
Rey will be a complete animal and will make our defense very intimidating because our front 7 could be
Rivers, Rey, Dhani,
Odom/Johnson, Tank/Sims/Peko/Shirley, anotherr DE/Geathers
Stardust Wrote:The only issue that I had was using the 5th round pick on a punter. I'd have rather seen them take a better defensive back or running back with this pick. All in all, this was a very solid job by the Bengals. Now, if we can just keep Smith Healthy. Looking that the Bengal's first round picks since 2000, every single one has had the bad luck of injury.Apparantly, Marvin and Zimmer ran this draft, and I don't even think that Mike Brown was in the draft room, so they picked for need and quality.
You don't understand how important a punter is just because a good one can give the other team horrible field position and can pin the other team deep into bad positions. It was a smart pick.
beasy_bo Wrote:good job i think the maualuga will be the surprise put of everyone
He's an ANIMAL and an absolute STEAL
He'll also be mad that he didn't get picked in the first, so he'll be ****ED
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04-30-2009, 06:30 PM
Best Bengals draft I can remember. Maualuga will be coming in with a chip on his shoulder since he didn't go in the first round and was the last of the USC linebackers picked. Hopefully he will be the face of the defense for the next 10+ yrs.
05-01-2009, 09:33 PM
BFritz Wrote:This draft was amazing for us because we got three guys in the first 3 rounds who all could have gone in the first round, and the rest of the picks were also solid players that filled needs.
Rey will be a complete animal and will make our defense very intimidating because our front 7 could be
Rivers, Rey, Dhani,
Odom/Johnson, Tank/Sims/Peko/Shirley, anotherr DE/Geathers
You don't understand how important a punter is just because a good one can give the other team horrible field position and can pin the other team deep into bad positions. It was a smart pick.
He's an ANIMAL and an absolute STEAL
He'll also be mad that he didn't get picked in the first, so he'll be ****ED
I agree with you about Maualuga, I look forward to seeing him destroy some poor RB's this year. Pairing him with Rivers and Jones will be make a good group of LB's.
I also agree about the punter. One reason is that they got someone that is pretty much guaranteed to be a starter in the 5th round. Usually a taken there at another position will be a backup, but not Huber. Plus, if you're going to upgrade from larson, might as well get the best guy available. Hopefully he can also do kickoffs...
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