(04-30-2022, 10:41 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Actually I wouldn't be surprised to see CTB at Safety and Dax outside. Dax is slightly leaner and longer. But IMO they have exactly the same skill set. 

Everything I’m reading suggests the opposite. That Dax will not play outside at the NFL level, but CTB is pretty much a lock to. Dunno, guess we’ll see.

(04-30-2022, 10:12 PM)pulses Wrote: Liked them all but my favs were Dax Hill and Tycen Anderson and CTB....meh on Carter but we'll see how he does.

My sentiments. Looking at their direction I was impressed. They stayed with locker room warriors. But their focus on versatility and with the depth issues in the NFL currently I thought was astute. With a huge focus on speed in the secondary they’ve positioned themselves well facing a conference with Mahomes,Wilson,Watson, and Lamar. But that’s not all. Volson is a blue collar mauler that won’t lose many mano y mano battles. A huge priority in pass pro is keeping the pocket clean.Joe flourishes with a clean pocket. Loathes when he can’t step up. Teams were strictly using tackles to collapse it on him. No way they will do that with Volson at guard or the free agents.. Gunter at 7 was incredible. I thought Carter like you was my head scratcher. But he’s versatile at least.

I thought their decisions had purpose. But my most important take away? Vonn Bell or Jesse Bates who wants to stay? We’ve got 1 safety in 2023. Who wants the other? Drafting now instead of next year or pursuing one in FA gives them leverage.

Loved Dax
Hated Carter, only because i preferred Winfrey.

Loved: Cam Taylor-Britt. Easily my favorite choice, and arguably the player most likely to start a game this season (if Awuzie gets hurt or Apple struggles/gets hurt).

Hated: This is a strong word. I didn't hate any pick. The one that I least enthusiastic about though is probably Zachary Carter. It's iffy to rely so much on 2019 tape for interior line play, but at least he was productive.

Loved:Hill

Hated:Volson

My favorite: CTB
Least favorite: Gunter

I didn't hate the Gunter pick. It's hard to except a ton out of seventh rounder. It just seems like they could've gambled on a WR or RB there as there isn't as many success stories of DL working out as other positions.

But who knows. We didn't have a home run like the last two years, but that's ok. We got several potentially solid guys. Gunter included.

(04-30-2022, 10:43 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Everything I’m reading suggests the opposite. That Dax will not play outside at the NFL level, but CTB is pretty much a lock to. Dunno, guess we’ll see.

Yeah, and I hope folks don't read as I'm not happy to have the kid, but there has to be a least favorite. 

Now if we'd have taken someone other than Dax in RD 1 (Ojabo, Hall. McCreary) then CTB might be a fav. 

KC grabbed Karlaftis right in front of us. I'm glad they moved up to ensure KC couldn't grab my favorite round 2 prospect in front of us too.

(04-30-2022, 10:39 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: Hated giving up picks to trade up twice.

Loved adding 3 DBs which was much needed reinforcements from a loaded historically fast class of DBs. The way we are attacking problem positions with multiple players in recent years is something I like.

Even though I listed CTB as my least fav I dig the team trading up. 

Favorite: CTB. Good in zone and man. Great athlete. 3 straight years of sub 80 passer rating allowed. 3 years playing most games each year.

Least favorite: Dax. I’m rooting for him, hope I’m wrong, but he never impressed me. His speed allowed him to recover when out of position in college against mediocre WR/TE’s and bad QB’s. Won’t work in the NFL. Doesn’t have the experience as a true center fielder. It’s not as simple moving a slot corner/etc back there so he has his work cut out for him if that’s where he’s going to end up. He’s athletic enough for it so hopefully he can.

He’s something of a Swiss Army knife which can be useful but my concern is he never finds a home and thus never reaches the potential we would expect from a first rounder. I don’t think he’s good enough to be an outside corner, saw him getting beat by OSU wr’s that game even when they didn’t get the ball (granted all 3 OSU wr’s will be top 15 picks once JSN goes early next year). I can see why people like him, but he has serious bust potential that nobody seems willing to acknowledge.


After seeing this draft I’m also starting to get concerned about the Bengals love of guys with “versatility”. It’s great in theory but spreading these guys too thin or constantly trying to change positions or move them to spots they never played can stunt a young players growth. We may have seen some of that last year with o linemen, d line, etc. This draft class could completely bomb for just that reason. Not saying that’s what’s going to happen but it’s something I’ll keep my eye on from now on. If this class bombs they need to quickly get over their love of the versatile player and get guys who are actually good at their one job. Better to be good at one position than mediocre or bad at multiple. Just something to keep an eye on. Only time will tell.

Favorite: Volson
The guy looks like the type of mauler you'd want in a guard. He should take some time to develop coming from a smaller school but I honestly believe this guy will be a monster on the inside in time.

Least: Anderson
Nothing against the guy, I think he might bring something to the DB room and is another fast cover guy. Just not sure I love going into the DB room 3 times and trading up to do it. Would have liked something for the TE room or LB room or even another shifty RB type. Again, this is just a little more of not loving taking another safety, but that's really the only knock I have on it.

(04-30-2022, 11:27 PM)leonardfan40 Wrote: Favorite: CTB. Good in zone and man. Great athlete. 3 straight years of sub 80 passer rating allowed. 3 years playing most games each year.

Least favorite: Dax. I’m rooting for him, hope I’m wrong, but he never impressed me. His speed allowed him to recover when out of position in college against mediocre WR/TE’s and bad QB’s. Won’t work in the NFL. Doesn’t have the experience as a true center fielder. It’s not as simple moving a slot corner/etc back there so he has his work cut out for him if that’s where he’s going to end up. He’s athletic enough for it so hopefully he can.

He’s something of a Swiss Army knife which can be useful but my concern is he never finds a home and thus never reaches the potential we would expect from a first rounder. I don’t think he’s good enough to be an outside corner, saw him getting beat by OSU wr’s that game even when they didn’t get the ball (granted all 3 OSU wr’s will be top 15 picks once JSN goes early next year). I can see why people like him, but he has serious bust potential that nobody seems willing to acknowledge.


After seeing this draft I’m also starting to get concerned about the Bengals love of guys with “versatility”. It’s great in theory but spreading these guys too thin or constantly trying to change positions or move them to spots they never played can stunt a young players growth. We may have seen some of that last year with o linemen, d line, etc. This draft class could completely bomb for just that reason. Not saying that’s what’s going to happen but it’s something I’ll keep my eye on from now on. If this class bombs they need to quickly get over their love of the versatile player and get guys who are actually good at their one job. Better to be good at one position than mediocre or bad at multiple. Just something to keep an eye on. Only time will tell.

You make valid points. But most of the players drafted did play at permanent spots. It’s not like they’ve not had success at a position. But in today’s NFL and a few players at QB, WR, and LT earning all the salary cap having versatile players is going to be a must. Especially the backups. Hill was on several boards a top 15 player in the draft. But he immediately becomes the backup for Hilton, Bates, and Bell. He becomes a big role player as the third safety in a package that’s becoming more prominent all the time. CTB is a solid competition for Apple our weakest starter on the whole team. Carter I wasn’t high on but he is versatile, ha ha.

Favorite pick: CTB in the 2nd. This is a fast, athletic press man corner who can also play zone who should challenge for CB2 by mid season. Dax is a great player too, but I was still reeling from Linderbaum and Karlaftis coming off the board and I wonder who we would have picked had those two still been there. CTB, on the other hand, was clearly the best CB available and easily the best pick we could have made in the 2nd round (Gordon and McCreary were the only 2nd round CBs I liked more, but they were long gone and would have cost a lot to go get via trade. Capital that we, frankly, did not have). And, while CTB has to develop, Gordon and McCreary both had physical limitations that CTB just doesn't (Gordon is slow for a CB, especially considering how much we emphasized speed in this draft and McCreary is a T-Rex).

Least favorite pick: This is a tough one because I think all 6 players have potential, but taking Volson over guys like Tom and Kinnard has me a little bummed, but if he is anywhere near as good as Pollack thinks he is, I'm sure it will work out.

Also, taking Carter over Winfrey is something we'll have to track. Going into the pick, I was all in on Winfrey, Carter wasn't even on my radar. So I'd be lying if I said I wasn't surprised and disappointed by the Carter pick. But after looking him up, he seems to have a similar athletic profile to Winfrey and had more production so...who knows. We'll see how these players all develop. I have faith in Marion Hobby, who has turned in quite the performance as our Dline coach over the last few years (career years for Hill and Ogunjobi, developed Hubbard, utilized Hendrickson etc). If he wanted Carter over Winfrey, I'll trust him over media scouts.

Kind of a different feel to this draft compared to the last few.... Very solid draft, but at the same time nothing that made me want to jump up and down and get excited.
Probably favorite pick is Volson - Guy just has bad intentions!
Least favorite - Carter, only because I know nothing about him and hadn't heard anyone talk about... He does have good numbers though!

Daxton Hill.Loved this pick.I don’t really have any I hate.Surprised they went that heavy on defense.When they selected CBT I thought there were other players available at other positions that could have benefited the team more.

FAVORITE PICK: Tie between Dax and CTB, great highlight films!

LEAST FAVORITE PICK: Not getting a returner.

FAVORITE OBSERVATION: We were aggressive enough to trade up without reaching (small trade ups) to get guys we supposedly had targeted. It demonstrates intentionality to make the team better the way you want it rather than leaving drafting to chaos and luck. It also demonstrates we are going for quality over quantity. I'm glad we aren't drafting camp fodder. I like using late round picks to move up a few slots.

LEAST FAVORITE OBSERAVTION: Looks like the Ravens plan to counter us by playing tough D and running it down our throats with 2 TE formations. We rebuilt our Oline, they rebuilt their Dline.

Favorite - Dax Hill
Least favorite - Tycen Anderson. I don't think he's bad, I just didn't like giving up a pick to trade up, and it was somewhat redundant IMO when we already drafted 2 DBs and could have got other positions.

Favorite Dax

I don’t know enough about these guys to pick a least favorite.

Favorite: Hill.

Least Favorite: Carter.  I'm a "ceiling" guy and this seemed like a "floor" pick and it also kind of felt forced for need.  My thoughts were similar when they took Kareem, but he has had some moments when he's been able to get on the field so they know what fits their parameters.  He did produce in the SEC so it's hard to get too bent out of shape.  They could've swung for a grand slam at TE, RB, or even WR(would've been my philosophy) which skews things.  Here's hoping that he shuts his critics up.

(04-30-2022, 10:23 PM)J24 Wrote: Loved  it- Cam Taylor  Britt- Was the ideal CB prospect.

Hated it-Dax- If I have to pick one pick then I would go with this one. I actually like the pick but worry that it means the end of Bates.

Unless Bates becomes the next ronnie lott or takes considerably less than he can probably get on the open market, he's gone.