CJD Pre-Combine Mock Draft 1.0

[CJD]

I know the Bengals don't usually trade down out of the first round, but the offer was just too juicy to decline. Since Arizona is at the top of the round, their 3rd round pick was almost as good as a 2nd round pick. Arizona traded up, giving me their 2nd and 3rd round picks in exchange for the 28th pick to go select O'Cyrus Torrence.
 
The three players that were there at 28 that I was considering were Anton Harrison, O'Cyrus Torrence and Nolan Smith. I ultimately decided that Smith is a bit too risky, since he is an underdeveloped pass rusher on a defense with historic talent throughout. He is also coming off of an injury and missed the end of Georgia's season (and the playoffs) and...they were fine without him. He's played for 4 years and never had more than 3.5 sacks in a single season, so I just wasn't comfortable drafting him here. Torrence I decided against because, while upgrading our LG position and making Volson the #1 back up is enticing, it's not something I think the Bengals would do willingly (they love giving their draft picks space to grow) and I don't think it's anywhere near our biggest need.
 
I could have just taken Harrison (and, had the trade down not occurred, I likely would have), but there are a lot of RTs in the 2nd round area that I was comfortable with, such as Dawand Jones and Darnell Wright, so I was comfortable risking Harrison to pick up another day 2 pick.
 
And, as luck would have it, Harrison was still there at my new first pick I got from Arizona. 
 
I like Harrison because he is big enough and strong enough to play RT, but he also has the athleticism (or is expected to, we haven’t seen him at the combine yet) to play LT if we choose to move on from Williams in 2024. He isn’t as good of a run blocker as Jones or Wright, but he may have higher upside as a pass blocker. Has good length and seems to have good technique. I think he could come in and start at RT on day one.

With my 2nd pick I chose Cam Smith, CB South Carolina. This was a tough choice because Eli Ricks and Kelee Ringo were both available as well. This will ultimately come down to preference of the coaches because Ricks is productive and physically impressive (6’2”), whereas Smith is more instinctive, which is harder to measure.  I’d be happy with either, but had to pick one, so I went with the more instinctive one that is not coming off of an injury riddled season.

With my first 3rd rounder that I acquired from Arizona, I went with Darnell Washington because we need more TE depth and he is kind of like a  6th offensive lineman in the run game. He’s still really raw as a receiver and route runner, but you can’t teach his size and speed combination and  I think he’ll help both the run and pass.

With my second 3rd rounder, I took Tyjae Spears. I know, it’s the trendy pick right now and he’ll probably end up in the 2nd round when all’s said and done, but he is the perfect complement to Samaje Perine as an elite receiving back with phenomenal speed. He could be our Isiah Pacheco.

Finally, I went with Marvin Mims in the 4th round. I really think we need another speed option in this passing attack. Chase is outstanding, but he is often double covered. If we could get some speed out of the slot, that would really stress the interior defenders of the defense and force them to make a decision about whether to come down to cover a crossing pattern from Mims or stay deep to double Chase of Higgins. I think this is the last year we have Boyd on the roster, so we need a legit replacement for slot anyway. Mims isn’t Jalin Hyatt fast, but he is still a good deep threat who has good hands and can stretch a defense both vertically and horizontally. He's dangerous in space and, as a bonus, has experience as a punt returner!
 


I know I went heavy on offense this draft but I see each and every one of these players as day 1 impact players right now. That may change if our free agency goes a certain way but, as of now, we do not have a 2nd RB behind Mixon, we don’t have a starting RT with Collins likely out for at least a portion of the season, we don’t have any TEs on the roster and we don’t have a second speed threat at WR. These next two seasons are our best chance to win a Super Bowl and our offense is what will win it for us, so I went all in here.
 
We don't need too much help on defense because they were elite this past year and we're only losing a LB (Pratt) who will likely be replaced by ADG and Bailey and a safety that will be replaced by Dax Hill. If we lose both starting safeties, then we may need to address it sooner in the draft but I find it hard to believe we don’t retain Bell. He’s just been too good for this franchise and should be relatively affordable as well.