(04-27-2024, 01:45 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: We’re talking about a day 3 pick. It’s not a “luxury” situation. They’ve addressed their biggest needs outside of TE.

And the WR’s are about to look very different after Tee is gone next season.

I think we need better depth in the interior oline and future starters to take over in a year or two when we lose our 30 year old vets.

This is a great draft to look at drafting this type of player and our next pick or two would be a good spot.

I also think we need depth at corner. There are good options in the 4th or 5th here.

I’d look to the 6th/7th for TE/RB personally. Oline and corner are just much more important positions. We can always bring in a vet for tight end. Oline you have to pay big bucks in FA and good players aren’t always available. We need some youth to groom behind the vets.

(04-27-2024, 02:16 AM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: I think we need better depth in the interior oline and future starters to take over in a year or two when we lose our 30 year old vets.

This is a great draft to look at drafting this type of player and our next pick or two would be a good spot.

I also think we need depth at corner. There are good options in the 4th or 5th here.

I’d look to the 6th/7th for TE/RB personally. Oline and corner are just much more important positions. We can always bring in a vet for tight end. Oline you have to pay big bucks in FA and good players aren’t always available. We need some youth to groom behind the vets.

Well we’re obviously not going to agree here but I’ll just say I think it’s much more likely to get a good future starter at TE in the 4th/5th than an eventual replacement for any of the starters on the OL or CB.

With Reader gone, we had to land Sweat or Jackson.

Personally, I do not think this is a reach. If it is, it ain't much of one. I doubt he would be there at #115. He balls out. Great motor. Captain. 4 year starter.

It’s a bit of a nice feeling after FA and the first few rounds of the draft to have beefed up the trenches on both sides of the ball. An explosive WR in the fold as well in the draft. Cool.
TE would be nice tomorrow.

(04-27-2024, 02:45 AM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: With Reader gone, we had to land Sweat or Jackson.

Personally, I do not think this is a reach. If it is, it ain't much of one. I doubt he would be there at #115. He balls out. Great motor. Captain. 4 year starter.

What compounds the need is the lack of true NTs left in free agency.  Also, other than maybe Seattle I didn't see anyone in the trade market that made sense.  Jackson isn't a guarantee to crack the rotation but he was probably the best shot.  I hate reaching but this makes sense. 

Jackson was the #159 prospect, on average, so yeah, pretty big reach at #97.

That said, they needed a NT and there aren't many in this draft, so I understand the pick even if I wouldn't personally have made it.

None of the usual pundits are talking about the Bengals draft so far.... which is probably a good sign. I don't know why I still read Kiper and NFL.com articles. I can already predict the outcomes of their draft analysis.. the same teams are praised every year.

Welcome aboard Mr. Jackson.

(04-27-2024, 04:44 AM)IcoHolic Wrote: None of the usual pundits are talking about the Bengals draft so far.... which is probably a good sign. I don't know why I still read Kiper and NFL.com articles. I can already predict the outcomes of their draft analysis.. the same teams are praised every year.

Welcome aboard Mr. Jackson.

Between this draft, and the FA haul, the Bengals have quietly put together a rather solid off-season.

(04-27-2024, 04:12 AM)Whatever Wrote: Jackson was the #159 prospect, on average, so yeah, pretty big reach at #97.

That said, they needed a NT and there aren't many in this draft, so I understand the pick even if I wouldn't personally have made it.

Sweat was supposed to go in the 3rd round too after his DUI and he went higher than they had him projected before the DUI. 

Looking at it this morning...the site I follow had his overall rank at 108. I thought he was a huge reach when the pick was made, but maybe not.

McKinnley Jackson can step in and fill Josh Tupou's short yardage NT reps which was a major need. #97 was a bit rich for Jackson as I had him graded early day 3 but the way the Defensive Tackles were coming off the board it doesn't surprise me Cincy "got their guy" a bit early.


I've said it a couple times but I wouldn't be surprised if they take a other DT day 3. Jordan Jefferson, Kristian Boyd, Fabien Lovett, maybe Leonard Taylor.

The pick makes sense Rankins and Hill are both 3 techniques and Jenkins is a shade under 300 lbs we don’t have a big NT. Far as a reach pick I won’t pretend to be an expert. Even if it’s a reach we basically we’re award a freebie with the 3rd rd comp pick gives you room to take chances. We already drafted a DT in Jenkins who’s more of a sure thing than a project. . The only position I could have argued to take there would be interior O-line.

I said it before the draft and I'll re-iterate it here: This is a minor reach in the 3rd round.

With that said, he clearly fills a need. It isn't an egregious reach. I would have been comfortable with him in the 4th round. I guess that's my cross to bear that I view 97 and 115 so differently.

I am curious why we drafted Kris Jenkins, who specialized in stopping the run (a best in class 13.2% run stopping rate), in the 2nd round and then drafted another run stopping specialist in Jackson in the 3rd. Makes me think they believe they can train Jenkins to be a better pass rusher from DT, who had a career pass rush win rate of 9.1% (not great, but not terrible either) based on his athletic traits.

There are some advanced analytics draft people who thought every nose tackle not named T'Vondre Sweat was undraftable, and Dane Brugler had Jackson as a 6th-7th round pick, so let's hope they are incorrect.

Zach Carter is officially on notice. We are likely to only carry 5 DTs into the season, and Hill, Rankins, Jenkins and Jackson are basically guaranteed 4 of those spots. Carter is now in competition with Tufele for that final spot.

(04-27-2024, 09:14 AM)CJD Wrote: I said it before the draft and I'll re-iterate it here: This is a minor reach in the 3rd round.

With that said, he clearly fills a need. It isn't an egregious reach. I would have been comfortable with him in the 4th round. I guess that's my cross to bear that I view 97 and 115 so differently.

I am curious why we drafted Kris Jenkins, who specialized in stopping the run (a  best in class 13.2% run stopping rate), in the 2nd round and then drafted another run stopping specialist in Jackson in the 3rd. Makes me think they believe they can train Jenkins to be a better pass rusher from DT, who had a career pass rush win rate of 9.1% (not great, but not terrible either) based on his athletic traits.

There are some advanced analytics draft people who thought every nose tackle not named T'Vondre Sweat were undraftable, and Dane Brugler had Jackson as a 6th-7th round pick, so let's hope they are incorrect.

Zach Carter is officially on notice. We are likely to only carry 5 DTs into the season, and Hill, Rankins, Jenkins and Jackson are basically guaranteed 4 of those spots. Carter is now in competition with Tufele for that final spot.

Jenkins and Jackson are both run stoppers, but very different players.  I mentioned this in the Goodberry sub space; I was told that stopping the run was the #1 concern for the Bengals this year, this came from a player.  It wasnt RT, not TE, not the secondary, but stopping the run.  Jenkins is a 3T run stopper that wins in multiple ways.  Jackson is an A gap plug that likely will have little impact this season until late, if at all.  

Not mad they "reached". He wouldn't have made it to our pick in the 4th, in my opinion. I know it's nitpicking early, but his draft phone call didn't sound too enthused or very appreciative. Guy just had the biggest call of his life and he sounded like Zac just called him in to work someone else's shift at Bob Evans on his day off.

I read this sentiment a couple few times about this pick, and that it's a reach pick in the 3rd but it's also the price the Bengals have to pay for not addressing the position in free agency.

Thoughts on that? Seems like a fair argument to make perhaps.

Otherwise he should step right in the rotation on situational downs, but not a starter yet tho.

I think Sanders the te was there. Maybe still is. Can't argue with going trenches.

(04-27-2024, 01:07 AM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: I don’t see that as a need. We have two solid options at off line/receiving tight end.
If anything we need a backup at inline/blocking tight end.

Keeping 4 tight ends is a lot of tight ends…


…
On a side note I do not see Jackson as a reach. I don’t like the odds he’s there in the 4th for our pick. Love the pick. Hoping there’s great value at IOL in the 4th, or corner/edge.

Agreed. The addition of Gesicki (I probably misspelled that) and the season Hudson had last year makes me think we're pretty set at TE

His Ras score hurt him in the minds of draft nerds(especially analytics guys) but before the combine he was a consensus top 100 pick.

Probably could have gotten him in the 5th rd but he's a good player!

Texas A&M's McKinnley Jackson, is ranked by Dane Brugler as a 6th-7th round and 21st DT overall. #Bengals went early bc they could not afford to miss at big DT. Doing so for one of the few big bodies in this draft that could do the job in their mind is paying price for failing…

— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) April 27, 2024