National Media Draft Grades

[Ricky Spanish]

Just want to see Billings line up next to Geno and see what happens..

Should be fun

[fredtoast]

(05-03-2016, 02:10 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: By this logic, taking Geno Atkins in the 3rd round would be a huge reach because 32 teams passed on him. Even you recognize how silly that logic is.

No I don't see anything silly about it at all.

Ask any draft expert if it is smart to take a guy in the third that you can get in the 4th.

If we take Geno in the 3rd then we don't get Jordan Shipley who had 52 catches as a rookie.

[Benton]

(05-03-2016, 01:11 PM)fredtoast Wrote: All the people who were calling for Billings early in the draft is just more proof that the Bengals know more about this than the fans.

If we had taken Billings in the third it would have been a huge reach according to all 32 NFL teams.  I trust them more than all the draft "experts" out there.  the teams have information that none of these analyst do.

BTW I will point out that I did the exact same thing with Sims when he came out of Auburn.  I mocked him as our second round pick and we ended up getting him in the third.  Only difference was I did not call the Bengals stupid for not drafting him in the second round.  Instead I congratulated them for playing it better than i would have.

Eh, that's a stretch. I honestly don't think the Bengals were targeting Billings in the fourth. Nobody expected him there. He was graded anywhere from a late first to early third.

I'm excited we took him, but I don't think there was any draft genius making that pick. It was more of a "really? he's still on the board. Well, hell!"

So great pick, but I'm still going to knock this year's draft for not doing more to address the line. Just like I did last year, and the year before that, and the year before that... Out of the last five years, Devon Still was the only time I thought they actually had a plan to address that need with a solid college player. He didn't work out, but at least it seemed like they knew they needed to improve. Hopefully, Billings will fix that and maybe in another 4-5 years they'll luck up and draft an end.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(05-03-2016, 03:03 PM)fredtoast Wrote: No I don't see anything silly about it at all.

Ask any draft expert if it is smart to take a guy in the third that you can get in the 4th.

If we take Geno in the 3rd then we don't get Jordan Shipley who had 52 catches as a rookie.

My crystal balls tells me the Bengals made a huge reach by selecting Atkins in the 4th because they could have drafted him in the 5th.

If the Bengals drafted Atkins in the 3rd round how would you know the Bengals would be able to draft him in the 4th?  You wouldn't.  Since he was drafted in the 4th how do you know the other teams wouldn't have passed on him again?  You don't.

Atkins has proven on the field he was worthy of a 1st round pick.  He has proven every team's scouting experts wrong.  Drafting a player worthy of a first round selection in the fourth round isn't skill, it's luck.  

[fredtoast]

(05-03-2016, 03:11 PM)Benton Wrote: So great pick, but I'm still going to knock this year's draft for not doing more to address the line. Just like I did last year, and the year before that, and the year before that... Out of the last five years, Devon Still was the only time I thought they actually had a plan to address that need with a solid college player. He didn't work out, but at least it seemed like they knew they needed to improve. Hopefully, Billings will fix that and maybe in another 4-5 years they'll luck up and draft an end.

Since '12 they have used 4 picks in the first three round on D-line.  They are not ignoring the need.  They are just missing on their picks.

[NATI BENGALS]

(05-03-2016, 01:11 PM)fredtoast Wrote: All the people who were calling for Billings early in the draft is just more proof that the Bengals know more about this than the fans.

If we had taken Billings in the third it would have been a huge reach according to all 32 NFL teams. I trust them more than all the draft "experts" out there. the teams have information that none of these analyst do.

BTW I will point out that I did the exact same thing with Sims when he came out of Auburn. I mocked him as our second round pick and we ended up getting him in the third. Only difference was I did not call the Bengals stupid for not drafting him in the second round. Instead I congratulated them for playing it better than i would have.

We had Billings graded as a second rounder and considered him in the second. If we would have taken him in the second round according to Lapham and Hoard it would not have been a reach because that was the grade we had on him.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(05-03-2016, 03:03 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Ask any draft expert if it is smart to take a guy in the third that you can get in the 4th.

(05-03-2016, 03:22 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Since '12 they have used 4 picks in the first three round on D-line.  They are not ignoring the need.  They are just missing on their picks.

Any draft expert will tell you not to draft players who will miss.  Duh.

[bengal kitten uk]

The thing about hindsight with draft picks is that it's impossible to know whether the draft grades were wrong or not. Was Geno Atkins a 4th rounder because he needed a very specific scheme and coach to bring the best out of him? Maybe he'd be worth a first to us but a 6th to a different team. Does anyone seriously think Tom Brady would still be in the league if he'd been drafted by the Browns and started as a rookie? Would Antonio Brown - taken in the 6th round - be discussed as one of the best in the league if he didn't land in that system with that QB?

Regarding Billings, the team said at their press conference that they considered taking Billings in the second (because he was so high on their board) but stuck with Boyd as the best WR available. Not sure why they preferred Vigil over him, but perhaps by that point they were expecting Billings to still be there in the 4th? Either way, I love that it fell the way it did!

[NATI BENGALS]

(05-03-2016, 03:36 PM)bengal kitten uk Wrote: The thing about hindsight with draft picks is that it's impossible to know whether the draft grades were wrong or not. Was Geno Atkins a 4th rounder because he needed a very specific scheme and coach to bring the best out of him? Maybe he'd be worth a first to us but a 6th to a different team. Does anyone seriously think Tom Brady would still be in the league if he'd been drafted by the Browns and started as a rookie? Would Antonio Brown - taken in the 6th round - be discussed as one of the best in the league if he didn't land in that system with that QB?

Regarding Billings, the team said at their press conference that they considered taking Billings in the second (because he was so high on their board) but stuck with Boyd as the best WR available. Not sure why they preferred Vigil over him, but perhaps by that point they were expecting Billings to still be there in the 4th? Either way, I love that it fell the way it did!

They went with Vigil because there were more DTs they had good grades on left for the taking than LBs left we had good grades on.

[YoungThundercat]

(05-03-2016, 01:48 AM)jeremydc Wrote: Why are you pissed? It's expected. I think the majority of us like the Bengals being "under the radar" anyways.

I hate hate HATE that logic from fans. There is no such thing as "under the radar" in the NFL. Teams have and use a full week of scouting and practice to game plan vs you regardless of how much ESPN, NFLN, FS1, CBS or FOX pregame shows talks about you.

So all things being equal on that end, I'd prefer it to see my team talked about on major sports networks that I'm watching. Even if it's 1/4 as much as they talk about the big market "ratings draw" teams like Dallas/NY/NE/Pitt. Especially when they do good things, like kill ANOTHER draft, or start the season 8-0, cause we all know how much press we get when bad things happen...

(Naturally, I'm not picking on YOU solely and if that part of your post is sans-ninja, then I apologize for not recognizing the sarcasm)

[Benton]

(05-03-2016, 03:22 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Since '12 they have used 4 picks in the first three round on D-line.  They are not ignoring the need.  They are just missing on their picks.

Still, Hunt, Clarke.. who am I missing?

And out of those, I don't count Hunt. Having all these great measurables doesn't mean anything if you can't coach him. It was a bad pick and bad fit. I honestly thought they were picking the guy and going to try converting him to some kind of LBer.

But if they're missing that poorly, then fix it. Draft higher, evaluate better. Whatever the issue is that causes them to take Margus Hunt and think it's going to fix the problem.

[Bengal Dude]

(05-03-2016, 01:11 PM)fredtoast Wrote: All the people who were calling for Billings early in the draft is just more proof that the Bengals know more about this than the fans.

If we had taken Billings in the third it would have been a huge reach according to all 32 NFL teams.  I trust them more than all the draft "experts" out there.  the teams have information that none of these analyst do.

BTW I will point out that I did the exact same thing with Sims when he came out of Auburn.  I mocked him as our second round pick and we ended up getting him in the third.  Only difference was I did not call the Bengals stupid for not drafting him in the second round.  Instead I congratulated them for playing it better than i would have.

The Bengals had a low 2nd round grade on him. He wouldn't have been a reach in the third round.

[leonardfan40]

(05-03-2016, 04:24 PM)Benton Wrote: Still, Hunt, Clarke.. who am I missing?

And out of those, I don't count Hunt. Having all these great measurables doesn't mean anything if you can't coach him. It was a bad pick and bad fit. I honestly thought they were picking the guy and going to try converting him to some kind of LBer.

But if they're missing that poorly, then fix it. Draft higher, evaluate better. Whatever the issue is that causes them to take Margus Hunt and think it's going to fix the problem.

Brandon Thompson was a 3rd the same year they drafted Still

[Benton]

(05-03-2016, 04:46 PM)leonardfan40 Wrote: Brandon Thompson was a 3rd the same year they drafted Still

Ah, thanks. Would've sworn he was a 4th.

[*ochocincos*]

(05-03-2016, 03:41 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: They went with Vigil because there were more DTs they had good grades on left for the taking than LBs left we had good grades on.

And as mentioned by multiple sources, this was a very deep DT draft, causing very good DTs to drop. And it happened. And worked out very well for the Bengals.

This was a great draft by the Bengals.

[magikod]

(05-02-2016, 10:02 AM)jeremydc Wrote: F'n national media don't know what they are talking................ ohhhh wait.......

heh 

Finally the Bengals get some attention they deserve. They have been drafting great the last 4 or 5 years!! bout time they show us some love