With all the Sewell, Pitts & Chase discussions.... What about defense?

I'm in the trade down crowd to pick up an extra 2nd (or more). With that said, perhaps we should turn an eye toward the D.

Is there a player you'd target in the 1st round Surtain? Parsons?

(04-05-2021, 05:18 AM)EatonFan Wrote: With all the Sewell, Pitts & Chase discussions....  What about defense?

I'm in the trade down crowd to pick up an extra 2nd (or more).  With that said, perhaps we should turn an eye toward the D.

Is there a player you'd target in the 1st round  Surtain?  Parsons?

Parsons would be the guy for me.  I see  lots of people claiming another wide receiver is needed, but I'd argue the WR group is more talented than the LB group.

And he's as fast as Chase, and faster than Pitts- at 6'3" and 245. 

Honestly, and I felt the same last year I would rather we just focus on building a complete offense around our young QB even if it were to mean the defense was going to be kind of meh. Have a really good looking offense and just try to outscore our opponents this year. Once that was in place then start working on the defense a little more.

I dont think the defence is that far away. The secondary should be competitive, Waynes, Hilton, Awuzie, Bell and Bates is a nice starting unit. D line also has some depth and above average starters, but could definitely do with a piece or two. Linebackers are the weak link for sure and could do with a talent injection.

In an ideal situation the secondary proves to be feisty enough to generate enough turnovers. Replicating a bit that Saints SB winning team that was far from an elite unit defensively but could generate enough turnovers to ensure the high scoring O could be decisive.

If we traded down a couple times and really loaded up on picks this year and next and still landed Rousseau I would break my neck trying to back flip in joy.

There's a player in this class who had the best burst to two yards off the LOS in the FBS last season. This player gives me serious vibes of being like Robert Mathis or Jerry Hughes. Plays with good leverage, long arms, but less than ideal size for most teams. The other major ding against him is that he can appear to have some ankle tightness and inability to change direction on a dime when he chugs up to speed. 

Jeremiah Owusu Koramoa would be my target.

Or Jaycee Horn, or Jaelan Phillips

I am on board with Sewell, Slater, Pitts, Chase and even Smith at 5. I am on board for trading down and getting Alijah Vera-Tucker, Christian Darrisaw, or Jaylen Waddle. I'm even on board if we trade down to the bottom of the round and take Kadarius Toney, Terrace Marshall Jr, Alex Leatherwood or Teven Jenkins.

But I am completely against defense in the first round. We need to give Joe a stud of some kind in the opening round. Protection or weapon, I go either way depending on the day, but Joe deserves the first round pick in some way.

We spent the last 2 free agency periods beefing up our defense with DJ Reader, Trae Waynes, Vonn Bell, Trey Hendrickson, Chidobe Awuzie, Larry Ogunjobi, Mike Hilton, Ricardo Allen and Mike Daniels specifically so we didn't have any glaring needs on defense heading into the draft. We could use an additional pass rusher on the edge and the inside, but that's basically all we need on defense from this draft.

This draft class doesn't really have an elite pass rusher in the mold of the Bosa brothers or Young. Jaelan Phillips is the closest to a true dominant pass rusher in this class but he has major injury concerns as he already "retired" due to his concussions before changing his mind and transferring to Miami to play again. And Barmore is the only DT that is even worth considering in the first round.

The value on defense is in the 2nd round. There are a wide range of pass rushers that could go in the first but would be great value at 38. Guys Like Kwity Paye, Azeez Ojulari, Jayson Oweh, Gregory Rousseau, Carlos Basham Jr, Ronnie Perkins and Jaelan Phillips would be great additions at 38 if they were there, but I'm not going near them in the first unless we somehow come up with a second first rounder somehow.

I feel like they addressed DB a lot this offseason, giving multi-year deals to two CBs and then getting two more DBs on cheap 1-year deals.
If they were to go defense in Rd 1, it'd have to be a trade back to about 15 (or later) and I'd be looking at DL.
They could really use another pass rusher or two.

I'd plan to get DL, OL, and pass catchers this draft, then next year see what still needs to be addressed.
If the Bengals can get OG/OT, WR, and DL handled now, I think next year is prime for finding upgrade at remaining OL, TE, and LB.

2020: *Spend all FA on defense, draft Joe Burrow, Joe Burrow gets murdered.*

2021: *Spend almost all FA on defense....* "Hey, lets focus on defense in the draft as well, I can't see how this will go poorly!"

We were dead last in sacks, TFLs, and bottom 5 in pressures last season. We didn't really improve the Defense either; we just signed a bunch of ok players to replace franchise pieces.
The Defense isn't in a good spot and if we don't address it heavily in the draft then expect us to be drafting in the top 5 for a third year in a row next year.

(04-05-2021, 08:00 AM)BritishBengal Wrote: I dont think the defence is that far away. The secondary should be competitive, Waynes, Hilton, Awuzie, Bell and Bates is a nice starting unit. D line also has some depth and above average starters, but could definitely do with a piece or two. Linebackers are the weak link for sure and could do with a talent injection.

In an ideal situation the secondary proves to be feisty enough to generate enough turnovers. Replicating a bit that Saints SB winning team that was far from an elite unit defensively but could generate enough turnovers to ensure the high scoring O could be decisive.

I think with a healthy Reader and the new FA from Cleveland plus Daniels, you will find our LBs are not that bad. Would I add another good LB, of course.

(04-05-2021, 06:20 AM)ElkValleyBengal Wrote: Parsons would be the guy for me.  I see  lots of people claiming another wide receiver is needed, but I'd argue the WR group is more talented than the LB group.

And he's as fast as Chase, and faster than Pitts- at 6'3" and 245. 

We have 2 WR's thats good and that's it. We lost AJ and Ross and Erickson and have not filled those spots AT ALL. You have to have depth at WR and we don't have that now. Tate is still unproven and Thimas is no more than a ST guy. SO tell me where all the talent at WR is? because it takes more than just Boyd and Higgins to win games..... We need to double dip in this draft at WR 1 early on and 1 later on.

(04-05-2021, 12:13 PM)J24 Wrote: We were dead last in sacks, TFLs, and bottom 5 in pressures last season. We didn't really improve the Defense either; we just signed a bunch of ok players to replace franchise pieces.
The Defense isn't in a good spot and if we don't address it heavily in the draft then expect us to be drafting in the top 5 for a third year in a row next year.

good that means Zac and Lous ass won't be in cincy any more. Bring in a competent staff.

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I'd love Parsons myself. We need a LB with a nose for the ball and can cover a TE in space.

(04-05-2021, 09:35 PM)TJ528 Wrote: good that means Zac and Lous ass won't be in cincy any more.  Bring in a competent staff.

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Are you sure about that?

(04-06-2021, 11:42 AM)J24 Wrote: Are you sure about that?

If we somehow finish this year 4-13 or 5-12 then their ass best be on the way out of town on the next bus. 

I think anythin other than a 9-8 record and they should be on their way out. 

This defense has been transformed to meet exactly what Lou and Zac want.  If it doesn't perform who does that fall on?  

The leaders/coaches and their coaching ability. 

(04-06-2021, 11:45 AM)TJ528 Wrote: If we somehow finish this year 4-13 or 5-12 then their ass best be on the way out of town on the next bus. 

I think anythin other than a 9-8 record and they should be on their way out. 

This defense has been transformed to meet exactly what Lou and Zac want.  If it doesn't perform who does that fall on?  

The leaders/coaches and their coaching ability. 

There is a huge difference between what should happen and what will happen with the Bengals!

(04-05-2021, 02:50 PM)pulses Wrote: We have 2 WR's thats good and that's it. We lost AJ and Ross and Erickson and have not filled those spots AT ALL. You have to have depth at WR and we don't have that now. Tate is still unproven and Thimas is no more than a ST guy. SO tell me where all the talent at WR is? because it takes more than just Boyd and Higgins to win games..... We need to double dip in this draft at WR 1 early on and 1 later on.

I didn't say we had an elite WR corps.  I said our WR group is more talented than the LB group.  That's not really a subtle distinction.

(04-06-2021, 01:39 PM)ElkValleyBengal Wrote: I didn't say we had an elite WR corps.  I said our WR group is more talented than the LB group.  That's not really a subtle distinction.

Getting a WR # 3 is more important than a LB right now. We don't add any WR's to what we have now but add a LB we're going to lose a lot of games. YOu add to the WR group with the additions we've already made on defense we're going to win games......their is a difference.