This is purely opinion of course and includes Free Agency.

First, between Free Agency and the draft we have retooled the interior Defensive Line - and it needed the redo. The new IDL room of Rankins, Hill, Jenkins and Jackson is stronger physically and brings more juice in pass rush to the table. It also has good run defenders up and down. We did give up some size when Reader left but overall I think this is a better room. At DE it is mostly our same cast but we did add Cedric Johnson who can learn and develop into a good starter - he has the physical tools just needs technique.

In a similar mold the safety room got a major makeover. Seeing as the flood of explosive plays were mostly caused by players out of position and also that our safeties typically call the player alignments this was inevitable. Stone and Bell are both smart and savvy safeties, perfect tutors for Jordan Battle and Bell is already versed in our alignment calls as it was his job before he went to Carolina for a year. So the safety room traded a little top end speed for a huge injection of IQ. At CB Josh Newton has showed ability in zone and will be allowed to develop.

Then we come to the new OL room. Trent Brown at RT is a better scheme fit than Jonah was and Mims is a physical freak who may be inexperienced but is not raw (his film shows smarts and good technique) and a prime blue chipper. Matt Lee also adds to us as a great Center prospect. So this room while not retooled (and it really didn't need a retool) got three new parts that look good at this point.

Next we come to a room that did get a retool - TE. Sample and Hudson are back which is good because both were solid for us. Gesicki is more like a slot receiver that happens to be called a TE. Both of our late round picks have sky high potential. This is a retool that probably pays off more in 2025 after All and McLachlan have some seasoning.

The WR room only got one new piece but what a piece! Jermaine Burton is a risk in temperament terms but ability wise he is a true threat and blue chipper. If Zac wins his bet that the team culture will work on Burton and he matures then we have a true mismatch to line up across from Chase.

RB is another room that got a makeover. The new room emphasizes pass protection and Yards After Contact while Chase Brown gives it home run speed. Zac Moss fits our scheme like a glove. My wild prediction special here is Noah Cain makes the team and Chris Evans does not with Trayveon Williams rounding it out.

Funny im posting this after bitching about our TEs all yr but what is the strategy here with our 5 TEs?
I cant imagine they want to put one of the drafted rookies on the Practice squad and risk another team plucking them?
I think they like keeping 3 on gameday roster so that leaves 2 for PS....maybe Tanner and (?)
Possibly All goes on IR initially?

Karras went from Bown County to Cincinnati Skyline after Mims was picked.

We may now have biggest OL group in the NFL.

I love it.

Yahoo posted an article with odds from Vegas, and they must be liking our draft and the moves we made to protect Burrow because they're showing us love!

I realize that these aren't perfect, but there's a reason Vegas makes so much off things like this, and that's because they're right or close to being right 99.999999999 of the time:

Quote:Super Bowl LIX favorites

Kansas City Chiefs (+550)

San Francisco 49ers (+600)

Baltimore Ravens (+900)

Detroit Lions (+1200)

Buffalo Bills (+1400)

Cincinnati Bengals (+1400)

Houston Texans (+1400)

Philadelphia Eagles (+1600)

Dallas Cowboys (+1800)

Green Bay Packers (+2000)

Miami Dolphins (+2500)

New York Jets (+2500)

25 on O
2 QB: Burrow, Browning
4 RB: Moss, Brown, Trayveon, Evans
6 WR: Chase, Tee, Iosivas, Burton, Irwin, Jones
4 TE: Gesicki, Sample, All, McLachlan
4 OT: BROWN, BROWN, Mims, Carman
3 OG: Cappa, Volson, Ford
2 OC: Karras, Lee

25 on D
5 DT: Hill, Rankins, Jenkins, Jackson, Carter
5 DE: Hendrickson, Hubbard, Murphy, Sample, Johnson
5 LB: Wilson, Pratt, Davis-Gaither, Bachie, Heyward
6 CB: CTB, Hill, Turner, Hilton, Ivey, Newton
4 S: Stone, Battle, Bell, Anthony

3 Specialist
P McNamara
K McPherson
LS Adomitis

11 Rookies wow

I know you can't fully know how great a draft is until usually a few years down the road, especially since players like Mims likely won't start this year, but this is about addressing needs, value, potential, and what you think they could or should have done.

I think we nailed this draft and set ourselves up for the future. I would have liked to draft a center a lot earlier, but, while I don't trust Pollack to coach-him-up, I think Matt Lee could end up being a serviceable center. He was the third-ranked center in the nation in 2022.

Vote and you can leave a detailed analysis or opinions on a few players or nothing at all.

I'll give it an A with the potential to be an A+.

Mims

ABSOLUTELY nailed the top pick. Like Mel Kiper says, with more experience, he could have been a top five pick.

The fact that he doesn't need to start this year helps him learn and gain experience.

A+ on this pick.

Jenkins

We need a run stopper on our D and Jenkins is a hell of a run stuffer. He doesn't offer much in the pass rush department but our division had two of the top five teams in rush attempts in 2023 and three in the top ten, so this was a genius pick and well thought-out by our coaching staff.

A on this pick.

Burton

Dude is a speedster and has the big play ability. He needs to work on his route-running a bit, but that's not too hard to fine-tune with NFL coaching. I didn't really understand the pick since we have Higgins, but either getting jump-started for life after Higgins or planning on trading him. Either way, great pick. He makes our offense that much more dangerous.

Seems to be have a bit of a character concern (maturity), but we have Burrow and other leaders on this team, so let's just hope that he values winning and success more than anything that could get him in trouble.

A here but could be an A+++.

Jackson

Bring him in on pass downs and let him get to the quarterback. Has good speed and agility for his size, which I think will make him a nightmare to block. They say his size might be a problem, but you know who else was a smaller DT? Geno Atkins. I'm not saying he'll be as good as Atkins, but he is a little bigger and has nice potential.

A here.

All

He was on a bad team and still looked good, so I'm excited about this pick. He's going to be a reliable target for Burrow and has a lot of upside and potential. If he were on a better team than Iowa, I believe he would have been taken higher than here. It's hard not to like a guy that's 6'5 and will be a safety outlet for Burrow. He's too athletic for backers and too big for safeties, so choose to double him but then who's left for Chase and our other receivers?

B+ here just so I don't look like a Homer but I think it's an A.

Newton

Would have liked them to go corner a bit earlier, but Newton is good value for where they got him and, with Dax Hill looking like he'll play corner, it's a good pick to bolster our DB room.

Probably won't be an instant impact player but I give it a B.

McLachlan

I didn't really see the point in doubling up here at TE, especially when we need IOL so bad, but he's not the worst pick because he was good value for where he was expected to be drafted. He's a good blocker and can get YAC, so looks like a good pick.

I'll give it a B.

Johnson

Athletic freak. I don't have much faith in him against the run, but I think he can offer something as a pass rusher if he can get coached to use his hands better,

B.

Anthony

Depth and special teams player. Not a bad pick this late.

Lee

Like I said, not much faith in Pollack but I think Lee has the ability to be a solid center with a little coaching.

B+.

Like I said, I give it an A with the potential for an A+ because we took some players to address immediate needs but also to build for the future.

What is your grade?

Like I said, feel free to give as much or as little in your evaluation as you want or nothing at all.

I found this very interesting.  Keep in mind where we drafted Burton and where other drafted ahead of him have similar or lower projections. Looks to me as though ESPN thinks Burton should have gone in top 40 but went 80TH.

https://www.espn.com/fantasy/football/story/_/id/40017156/2024-nfl-draft-fantasy-football-projections

I highlighted a few.

No. 13: Brock Bowers, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 56 receptions, 651 yards, 4 TD (15 games)

No. 23: Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 57 receptions, 756 yards, 4 TD (15 games)

No. 28: Xavier Worthy, WR, Kansas City Chiefs
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 44 receptions, 582 yards, 5 TD (15 games)

No. 31: Ricky Pearsall, WR, San Francisco 49ers
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 32 receptions, 430 yards, 3 TD (15 games)

No. 32: Xavier Legette, WR, Carolina Panthers
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 48 receptions, 633 yards, 3 TD (15 games)

No. 33: Keon Coleman, WR, Buffalo Bills
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 52 receptions, 706 yards, 4 TD (15 games)

No. 34: Ladd McConkey, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 66 receptions, 849 yards, 5 TD (15 games)

No. 37: Ja'Lynn Polk, WR, New England Patriots
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 34 receptions, 411 yards, 2 TD (15 games)

No. 52: Adonai Mitchell, WR, Indianapolis Colts
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 47 receptions, 566 yards, 3 TD (15 games)

No. 65: Malachi Corley, WR, New York Jets
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 39 receptions, 439 yards, 3 TD; 9 carries, 54 yards, 0 TD (15 games)

No. 80: Jermaine Burton, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 43 receptions, 510 yards, 3 TD (15 games)

No. 84: Roman Wilson, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 28 receptions, 368 yards, 2 TD (15 games)

No. 92: Jalen McMillan, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 29 receptions, 349 yards, 2 TD (15 games)

No. 100: Luke McCaffrey, WR, Washington Commanders
Mike Clay's 2024 projection: 28 receptions, 325 yards, 1 TD (15 games)

Elijah Collins of Oklahoma State and Noah Cain of LSU added. Bengals have said they would like a college RB to make the team and add to the stable of RB's with Mixon gone. Probably which one of these guys can step up on special teams. There is a spot on this team for a RB out of college that can be a back-up and help out on special teams. So we can't assume these two are just practice squad horse meat to be cut before season, Bengals have said they could use a college guy added to the RB squad. Both these guys from big time college programs come in at heavy weight boxer size around 6 feet tall and 200 pounds. 2 Big RB's. If one of these guys can step on on Special Teams in camp the way Bengals Eric Ball use to make tackles and blocks, there is a roster spot for a RB like that with Mixon gone and back-ups moving up.

With that said, looks like good draft all around. Go Bengals....BACK TO THE SUPER BOWL

CINCINNATI BENGALS: B+

1 (18): T Amarius Mims, Georgia
2 (49): DI Kris Jenkins, Michigan
3 (80): WR Jermaine Burton, Alabama
3 (96): DI McKinnley Jackson, Texas A&M
4 (115): TE Erick All, Iowa
5 (149): CB Josh Newton, TCU
6 (194): TE Tanner McLachlan, Arizona
6 (214): EDGE Cedric Johnson, Ole Miss
7 (224): S Daijahn Anthony, Ole Miss
7 (237): C Matt Lee, Miami Fl.

Mims — Cincinnati beefs up its pass protection in front of Joe Burrow by adding the massive Mims. He’s a fantastic athlete for his size but struggled with injuries at Georgia. Regardless, he allowed just six quarterback pressures across 402 career pass-blocking snaps and should start very soon, as Trent Brown is only a short-term solution at right tackle.

Jenkins — Jenkins is arguably the pound-for-pound strongest player in the draft. His 87.2 run-defense grade since 2022 ranked fifth among Power Five interior defenders, while his 82.7 PFF grade in 2023 ranked third among Big Ten interior defenders. Jenkins lacks length and an ideal pass-rush package, but his power alone will have him on the field on Sundays.

Burton — Despite sliding a bit due to some off-field concerns, Burton has a three-level skill set with great explosiveness and impressive ball skills. He didn’t drop any of his 57 targets this past season and could be a solid complement to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins from Day 1 due to his downfield playmaking ability.

Jackson — Jackson projects as a nose or three-technique in a 4-3 defensive scheme because he excels as a one-gap penetrator. He’s limited by a lack of length, but that didn’t stop him from racking up 34 run stops since 2022 (third-most in the SEC) with 14 of them for no gain or loss (fifth in the SEC). He’ll need to learn to hold up to double team blocks and develop a pass-rush repertoire, but he can be successful in a rotation.

All — The Bengals find a potential long-term starter in the fourth round, with All ranking as the third-best tight end on the PFF big board. His 2.62 yards per route in 2023 ranked second among draft-eligible tight ends.

Newton — Ranking 12th among Big-12 cornerbacks, Newton earned an 87.7 PFF grade combined over the past two seasons. Across 413 coverage snaps last year, he allowed just one touchdown.

McLachlan — The Bengals doubled up on tight ends by adding the safe-handed McLachlan. He didn’t drop a single pass from 45 catchable targets in 2023. His 530 receiving yards and four touchdowns were both career highs.

Johnson — Johnson has a solid size-speed combination for an edge defender this late in the draft and offered solid production in his final season in college. From 850 pass-rushing snaps over the past three seasons, he racked up 107 quarterback pressures, including 13 sacks.

Anthony — Anthony allowed just one touchdown across 394 coverage snaps in 2023. Opposing quarterbacks managed a passer rating of just 54.7 when targeting him in coverage.

Lee — Lee was exceptional in 2023 with the Hurricanes, ranking 10th among FBS centers in PFF grade (79.1). He didn’t allow a single sack on 414 pass-blocking snaps, and his 89.1 PFF pass-blocking grade ranked third among FBS centers. Lee is well worth a swing here for the Bengals, a team that continues to find value late in the draft.

The Bengals 2024 draft class grade ⬇️https://t.co/QeZRiLA6ae

— PFF CIN Bengals (@PFF_Bengals) April 27, 2024

Competition for Brad Robbins. From Austin McNamara's bio: "Ended his five-year career as Texas Tech’s punter with a 45.91 average, the highest in Texas Tech and Big 12 Conference history. His average ranked 10th in NCAA FBS history among punters with at least 150 career punts." https://t.co/aJ6gSQR2mS

— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) April 27, 2024