Latest from Hobson

[*ochocincos*]

(02-20-2018, 02:30 PM)jj22 Wrote: Ok Xeno. I doubt these are smoke screens but we'll see.

Hobspin was wrong tho with Ross. He swore taking a wr under 6 feet in the top 10 was not in their nature. I actually don't think they go DT but cb is an option. Jones will be gone, and they won't re-sign Dennard with Dunlap and Atkins their priority. Dennard is the odd man out. Meaning next year we will only be down to Dre and WJIII.

Corner is likely the non OT pick if there is one. They passed on a great ball hawking safety last year at 9, and although James will be there at 12, do we need a 3rd strong safety?

I think we have to wait to hear from Lap and we can take what he says about who we'll draft to heart.

According to the article itself, the Bengals (or at least Hobson) didn't consider Hooker an elite safety.
"And that’s part of the conversation about any trade down. Can you get a similarly ranked guy later? That was an internal debate last year. The elite pass rushers (Myles Garrett and Solomon Thomas) were long gone. So was the elite running back (Leonard Fournette) and elite safety (Jamal Adams) as they went to make the ninth pick. One school of thought was approach Kansas City at 10 or Houston at 12 in their efforts to trade up to get QBs, slide into the 20s, and take a pass rusher like Missouri defensive end Charles Harris or UCLA outside linebacker Takkarist McKinley.

But Washington wide receiver John Ross had an elite top ten trait. A combine-record 4.22-second 40-yard dash. Tough to pass up. Especially when speed across from A.J. Green is a glaring absence. The way this thing is breaking this year, it may be a lot tougher getting out of 12, especially if the top four QBs are gone by ten. But, if one of them is there at No. 12 and somebody wants him, he’ll probably be more valuable to the Bengals in a trade than taking him."

Who are considered the "elite" non-QB players this year?
Bradley Chubb
Saquon Barkley
Quenton Nelson
Minkah Fitzpatrick

Derwin James I think has elite potential but there are question marks based on his (lack of) college production. If James can run a sub-4.4 40, I think though that might get the Bengals to reconsider.
Same with Tremaine Edmunds but sub-4.5.
Roquan Smith also might not be considered if the Bengals didn't consider Foster in that elite group last year. But he has elite production in college and has better coverage ability than Foster had coming out of college.
I don't see Vea or Payne in that elite tier for the Bengals either given their lack of college career pass rush production (on paper at least). Plus, the Bengals didn't apparently think Jonathan Allen was in that elite category of pass rusher like Thomas or Garrett, and Allen was a better pass rusher than both Vea and Payne.

So if I were a betting man, I'd bank on one of the above four "elite" players, draft a position of need, or hopefully trade back.