The Draft!

Welcome Bengals fans and Bengals curious. This week is my Christmas. My team gets new toys! The NFL draft. I know a lot of you football fans that aren't nearly as nerdy as me are a little lost when it comes to the draft. It's no fun if you don't know a lot of the prospects and you have to spend a lot of time researching to learn them. Hell even I get lost after the 3rd round.
My goal here is to distill all the draft knowledge I've gathered for this year and brew it into all the Bengals relevant stuff. Hopefully it will be enough for you to be entertained or at least a little interested in the draft come this weekend.


Lets start with what the Bengals need in this draft. There are varying opinions on this of course but all the information here is a synthesis of what I've heard from experts (not 'experts') and my my educated opinion.

Before I get into this, keep in mind that the draft isn't all about fillings needs as it is finding talent. They don't have to find all these guys in the draft.

Need 1: Quarterback

With Carson bailing out on us we have one of the most uncertain QB situations in the league as it stands right now. I think we would be looking at a QB regardless because Carson's decision making and deep accuracy have been suspect at best over the past few years and those were his best qualities when he was good. I'm actually kind of excited at getting some new blood behind center.

While it would be great to get a guy in this draft, you can't force it eitehr. If you don't think Blaine Gabbert is going to be a very good QB then you don't take him at 4. If Ponder and Dalton are gone by our 2nd round pick you don't want to take a guy that doesn't fit just because you need someone. Remember that before we play football there will be free agency and trades. There are guys out there that can be a stop gap.

Also the Bengals are a great team to protect a weak QB right now. The new west coast offense Gruden is installing will be more QB friendly. Lots of short throws and quick reads. He's said he will rely heavily on the run game which is a QB's best friend. The defense is excellent too which is the last ingredient to having a QB friendly team. Puts less pressure on a QB and minimizes the damage on his mistakes. So while we may not have a great QB situation, the QB that starts will come in to a great situation.

Last thing we need to look at on QB need is the guys we have available. With a west coast system you need a QB that is athletic and accurate. A guy that can move around a little bit. Doesn't need to have a huge cannon as a lot of the offense is generated by yards after catch and the run game.
I know Jordan Palmer isn't an attractive option but he has been getting the team together for off season workouts which is encouraging. I've also heard he's more athletic than his brother as well. I would be willing to see what he can do after a few years of learning.
Dan LeFevour intrigues me a lot for this offense. He was a rookie last year that was nabbed off the waiver wire that I think Chicago was counting on hiding in their practice squad. At Western Michigan he threw and ran for a bajillion yards. More of a passer than runner but effective with the ball in his hands. He seems like a perfect fit for this offense. I don't know a ton about him but I wouldn't be upset if he won the job this year.

Need 2: Safety

I'm a firm believer that the Bengals should keep drafting defense early and often. Putting together a running offense is a lot cheaper than a passing offense so you can really blow your cap on D. We're in pretty good shape across the board on defense except safety. There really isn't much talent at this position for us and I think a good one would push this D over the edge to elite if the D line keeps developing. I do like the Reggie Nelson pick up and thought he played well this year. I'd like to see what he can do with a full camp and more Zimmer coaching. Roy Williams is serviceable but we could upgrade over either and there isn't much behind them. Roy is a free agent too so he might not even be back (I think he will). I would put this need above QB but the importance difference for the positions is just too big.

Here is the tricky thing about safety in the draft this year. There really aren't many good ones. However there are more guys than I can remember that play corner and are projected as possible safetys. I'll give a short list of these guys on my draft boards in the coming posts. Mike Zimmer (our D coordinator) has been calling for a guy like that for a while now. A guy with corner coverage skills he can put at safety. This would be a great time to do it.

The needs are significantly less after this and depend on a few things.

Need 3A: SAM Linebacker

Anyone else notice that no one in the media has mentioned this need? Dhani Jones is leaving via free agency probably and I've heard plenty of talk about Maualuga finally moving to middle this year. This leaves a starting position open on the defense with no one there really. I know it's only half a starting position because teams are in their nickel defense so often but you still need a guy here. Now if they think last year's 4th round pick Roddrik Muckelroy can step in and take that spot then great, we're good to go here. He hasn't worked at SAM much yet but I think he would be fine. Could still use another guy for depth behind both SAM and middle linebackers though. If you move Muck to SAM there isn't anyone behind either spots.
So if they move Muck to SAM this need drops dramatically.

For those of you that aren't familiar a SAM linebacker is the strong side linebacker. This means he typically lines up over the tight end. The 4-3 SAM backer is one of the easiest to find. Usually they are bigger and less athletic than the other spots since they are the first to come off the field when the defense goes into a Nickel defense. (when you have 3 corners and 2 linebackers instead of 2 corners 3 linebackers. It's used to match up against 3 receiver formations) So you want a guy that is a good run stopper. Pass rush skills are nice too.

Need 3B: Guard

This isn't a pressing need but we could stand to upgrade here. Bobby Williams is great but he's old as hell. We drafted a project in Otis Hudson last year for guard (in the 5th round for some reason) but I haven't heard anything about him since. Who knows if he'll pan out or not. The left guard spot isn't bad but its not great either. Would be nice to grab someone here. When you want to run the ball your interior O line is very important.

Need 4: Receiver

I almost feel like this is need 5 but I guess after the top 3 guys there isn't anything. A lot of people have this as the 1st or 2nd need but I really like the receiver corps we have right now. Jerome Simpson really broke out at the end of the season and coaches are saying he should have been on the field sooner. This guy was raw coming out of college and I think he's only going to get better. He needs a chance to play a full year before you say you need an upgrade over him.
Jordan Shipley blew it up in the slot last year as a rookie. I'm not sure if his ceiling is very high but even if he played exactly the same I would still like him as your slot receiver. I think he will get better though. Receiver is a tough position for rookies and he did a great job. When I said I'm not sure how high his ceiling is I meant I don't think he's going to be an elite number 1 receiver at any point like you might expect out of a guy that put up the rookie numbers he did.
Andre Caldwell I don't have as much faith in but I still think he can be a good solid number 2. Especially in the west coast offense since he's so good with the ball in his hands. Dude is wicked fast. He's taken the top off defenses that we're playing him deep and has some clutch catches I'm sure we all remember from '09. I would like to see what he can do with a full season of being the number 2 WR before you go replacing him.

It still makes my needs list because we need a guy behind these 3. If one goes down then who comes in? Quan Cosby? Yikes. Shame we cut Des Brisco for Quan last year. This might not even be a need. Anyway, the ideal guy here would be versatile enough to play all 3 spots and contribute on special teams. Even better if he was a dynamic return man. That would be delish. However if a developmental number 1 type guy is sitting around in the later rounds that wouldn't be a horrible pick up either. We still have a 5th WR spot for a special teams guy.

Need 5: Fullback

I'm sure no one else noticed this (cause I'm a nerd) but the Bengals didn't have a fullback on their roster until the end of the season last year. When they did pick up Chris Pressley the running game got way better. They need to keep one on their roster. They are a running team, keep the fullback. The nice part about that is there aren't many teams that need or want a fullback. You might be able to pick up a total stud in the 5th or 6th round. I think Pressley did a good job last year and if they just want to bring in some college free agents for him to compete with in camp I'm fine with that too.

Need 6: Tight End

Clearly we don't need a number one here. I'm super happy with Gresham and every Bengal and Bengals fan should be too. However there isn't much behind him. I liked that Chase Coffman got a start at the end of last year. Would like to see him continue to develop. I've heard people in the organization say he has the best hands on the team. Would be nice to grab another guy though. Unfortunately this draft sucks for TE so we probably won't get one. Look for the Bengals to either grab a low end free agent or see if Reggie Kelly can do it for another year. Who knows though. Could be some late round magic at this spot.


So that about wraps it up for Bengals needs right now. I guess RB could be on there too but they are a dime a dozen. Now if the Bengals take a player at a position not on this list that doesn't mean it was a bad pick. The best teams draft for talent, not need. You can always use more D lineman and it might just fall that way for them this year at the top of the draft.

I'll post my draft boards each day from rounds 1-3 in the coming days with details about each player and how they might fit or not with the Bengals. Hope you'll read up with me!
Btw draft starts Thursday at 8pm EST. Whose excited!? I know this guy is.