Try to sell me on O.J. Howard.

[*ochocincos*]

(04-02-2017, 01:30 PM)09ItsOurTime Wrote: Hmm, he may be a better blocker, but i'm not down for picking a TE at 9 because he can block. The insurance part is solid if Eifert goes down, but again, picking for insurance at 9 overall? Not for me. This team has never shown it can effectively use a 2 TE set. I especially don't expect Zampese to do that.

You're right the Bengals rarely invest money in TE's, so then WHY IN THE WORLD pick a TE at number 9 overall if they're also going to let him walk in 5 years? Furthermore for a team that doesn't invest in TE's picking 3 in the first round in 7 years!? That would prove the Bengals are incompetent (though I wouldn't put it past them). When you're picking at 9 overall you should be picking a guy who you think can be a franchise player for 10 years, not 5 and dump. 

There is something seriously wrong if a team picks 3 TE's in 7 years in the first, it's such a low position on the totem poll of impact comparatively.

No, you don't pick a TE at 9 because he can block. I never said that. You pick a TE at 9 because he is supposed to be (potentially) the full package and has elite potential. That is what Howard has. He was (one of) the best blocking TE in college in 2016. Yes, his stats were down, but many teams don't draft a player in the first round based mostly on stats. 

If they did, Myles Garrett wouldn't be debated as the top overall pick in the draft. Garrett only had 8.5 sacks and 15.0 TFL, which was surpassed by players like DeMarcus Walker, Derek Barnett, Hunter Dimick, Carl Lawson, etc. Garrett is widely considered the top overall prospect because he has elite athleticism, good (not great) college production, and amazing potential. 

The same goes for Howard, who showed off his elite athleticism at the combine. Many people feel he was vastly underutilized at Alabama. However, he still put up respectable stats for a TE with 602 rec yards and 2 TD in 2015, 595 rec yards and 3 TDs in 2016. Let's compare that to what many people consider the best TE prospect coming out of college this millennium, which is Vernon Davis. Vernon Davis only caught 21 passes for 511 yards and 5 TDs his final year at Maryland, but his athleticism was off the charts and he ended up going 6th overall to SF in 2006. Sure, VD hasn't been the best TE in the league during his career, but he's been pretty good as was a top option in SF for quite a few years.