2018 Class

[3wt]

(05-03-2018, 09:23 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Here is what is going to happen.  One or more of the guys that are getting a lot of love will be flops, and with six picks in the 5th and later we willprobably get a guy who contributes a lot to the team.

The draft is a huge gamble.  Even at the top.  You are more likely to get good players in the first round, but every year there are MULTIPLE first round picks that flop.  And it is more rare to good players in the fifth or later there are several from each round that become good players.  There are also going to be a few unbdrafted free agents around the league that become starters.

I used to follow the draft and really get into analyzing college players.  I wasn't really "scouting".  I was just collecting other poinions from around the web.  It was a lot of fun and I don't mean to make fun of the guys who do it, but it is mostly a crap shoot.  Even the best teams in the league make bad draft choices.  There are just too many personality variables of 19-20 year olds that can not be measured.  You don't really know what you haver until they take the field against the best players on the planet.  

Nice realistic take on the draft in general and this years in particular.   Here are my feelings in addition to yours:

Price......Instant starter.  Best Center we have had in years. (Braham's a little overrated)  Definite upgrade - we'll see how good


Jesse Bates FS.....Will play 30-50 percent of the snaps.  Major piece of our defense.  Looked at some film of Bates.   He looks REALLY good.  Big upgrade in center field, and makes 3 safety sets pretty nifty.

Sam Hubbard DE...Might take MJ's DE snaps immediately.  Might need a year to adapt to NFL.  At this point I will avert my eyes from the list of D-linemen we have taken in the second and third rounds over the previous 6 drafts  Loved his highlights, but they were highlights and this is the pros.  I did get a tweak from seeing him beat Quentin Nelson.  But as you put we have had a poor history of DEs (or any position) in the 3rd round.   Jury is still out on Willis.

Malik Jefferson LB....Don't like what I have read about him, but the reason we got Dunlap in the wecond round was his supposed lack of fire and focus.  If we can coach this guy up he could be a huge help at a very thin position.  Looked at some of his film.  One minute he was a stud and the next looked lost.  He certainly has the physical ability.   But it's all about what's in his heart and between his ears.

Mark Walton RB....Wish we had taken another position, but a lot of people are saying this was a great value pick.  Hope he can replace Peermans ST production.  It would be nice to be able to just carry 3 RBs.  He looked GREAT on film.  Fine acceleration, great contact balance and good vision.

Davontae Harris CB....Don't know anything about him, but one of these 5th-7th rounders will proabably be a good player for the Bengals over the years.  He looked pretty good on film, but I did not see a lot.

Andrew Brown 5T......My favorite of the 5th-7th picks.  My 4th favorite overall.  I really like this guy.  We had some of our bests defenses when we had high quality rotation guys like Rucker, Fanene, and Gilberry on the D-line.    Sounds really exciting, but looked "Meh" on film.

Darius Phillips CB/KR.....See "Devontea Harris"   Did not see any film, but sounds really promising

Logan Woodside QB....See "Devontea Harris"     See Phillips

Rod Taylor G/T.....See "Devontea Harris" (could benefit from weak competition)   See Phillips.   Sounds like he could be a dominant road grading guard.

Auden Tate WR....See "Devontea Harris"   See Phillips.   Would like to see someone clearly beat out Core at this point  - or Core step up his game.   You have to like this guy's size and he sounds like a player.