04-03-2016, 10:55 AM
There are some people on here who like to hype every draft pick, even the late round ones, as a future starter.
There are some other people on here who claim that if a draft pick does not contribute immediately as a rookie then he is a bust.
I fall somewhere in the middle. I think it is important to wait until the second season to start judging draft picks. It is not unusual for a player to make significant improvement from his rookie season to his second year. But generally if the player has not done anything after two seasons he is not going to get a lot better.
Last year was a bit unusual because he did not have a rookie that was an immediate starter like we usually do, but I still think a few of our picks will develop into solid NFL players.
So which player (or players) do you think will contribute a lot in 2016? I think it is a given that Ogbuehi will be starting at RT. After that I am not sure.
With the loss of Reggie (for the sake of this poll we have to assume he will not be signed) I see Smith getting a shot at more playing time, but since he did not even play on defense last year I have no idea how good he might be.
With Hall leaving I also see Shaw getting a shot at more playing time. He did play some on defense last year. I doubt he will unseat Kirkpatrick, Dennard, or Jones but the #4 CB still plays on a regular basis in the dime package.
Dawson seemed to be the most over-hyped of our draft picks last year. For some reason a ot of people were in love with him. Since he seems to be slotted to play WOLB the 4 game suspension of Burfict may be a big break for him, but since he did not play last year I have no idea how good he might be. And even with Burfict out I don't see him passing Maualuga, Rey, or Dansby.
Because of our recent failings at drafting D-linemen Hardison is the guy I am watching the closest. Without Gilberry we have a huge hole in our rotation. Although I wanted Hardison to get bigger and concentrate on being a full-time DT the Bengals seem to see him as a DT/DE hybrid. I am pretty sure we will take a D-lineman high in this years draft, but we still need Hardison to step up in a big way.
There are some other people on here who claim that if a draft pick does not contribute immediately as a rookie then he is a bust.
I fall somewhere in the middle. I think it is important to wait until the second season to start judging draft picks. It is not unusual for a player to make significant improvement from his rookie season to his second year. But generally if the player has not done anything after two seasons he is not going to get a lot better.
Last year was a bit unusual because he did not have a rookie that was an immediate starter like we usually do, but I still think a few of our picks will develop into solid NFL players.
So which player (or players) do you think will contribute a lot in 2016? I think it is a given that Ogbuehi will be starting at RT. After that I am not sure.
With the loss of Reggie (for the sake of this poll we have to assume he will not be signed) I see Smith getting a shot at more playing time, but since he did not even play on defense last year I have no idea how good he might be.
With Hall leaving I also see Shaw getting a shot at more playing time. He did play some on defense last year. I doubt he will unseat Kirkpatrick, Dennard, or Jones but the #4 CB still plays on a regular basis in the dime package.
Dawson seemed to be the most over-hyped of our draft picks last year. For some reason a ot of people were in love with him. Since he seems to be slotted to play WOLB the 4 game suspension of Burfict may be a big break for him, but since he did not play last year I have no idea how good he might be. And even with Burfict out I don't see him passing Maualuga, Rey, or Dansby.
Because of our recent failings at drafting D-linemen Hardison is the guy I am watching the closest. Without Gilberry we have a huge hole in our rotation. Although I wanted Hardison to get bigger and concentrate on being a full-time DT the Bengals seem to see him as a DT/DE hybrid. I am pretty sure we will take a D-lineman high in this years draft, but we still need Hardison to step up in a big way.
