(8 hours ago)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: I think G/S/DT are the clear priorities. CB has some good value in Rd2 as well.

And lets not forget, there are still some starting quality Gs left in FA: Will Hernandez & Risner have played both sides, Scherff RG only. Blackmon is a starter quality safety.

But I usually bank on us doing something dumb. In this case, we don't value G or S, so well either take an OT and try to move him (Carman 2.0) or take a RB after bringing Moss back.

My guess is Ersery or Henderson.

I lot of mocks had Henderson as a #1 pick ahead of Hampton. It is not a position of need, but why would they not consider it.

You seem to have your mind made up the draft is already a bust and no confidence in FO and new coaches to develop existing or new members in 2025.

Esrery has been on my radar for a while and he also would be a steal at 49.

(7 hours ago)Luvnit2 Wrote: I lot of mocks had Henderson as a #1 pick ahead of Hampton. It is not a position of need, but why would they not consider it.

You seem to have your mind made up the draft is already a bust and no confidence in FO and new coaches to develop existing or new members in 2025.

Esrery has been on my radar for a while and he also would be a steal at 49.

Henderson is a great pass protector and a tough sumbitch to tackle. Wouldn't hate it as long as we can bring in Risner after the Draft 
and even Hernandez once he can pass a physical. We don't have to draft Guard, but I would like it. I like Ersery as well as Ratledge or 
Savaiinaea today or a S or a pass rushing DT. Lots of ways to go.

Back to being excited. Shemar Stewart has the talent to be great, he needs to keep his head up and learn to finish. Very teachable 
things. Now if we drafted a head case, that could of been a bigger problem honestly.

(7 hours ago)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Henderson is a great pass protector and a tough sumbitch to tackle. Wouldn't hate it as long as we can bring in Risner after the Draft 
and even Hernandez once he can pass a physical. We don't have to draft Guard, but I would like it. I like Ersery as well as Ratledge or 
Savaiinaea today or a S or a pass rushing DT. Lots of ways to go.

Back to being excited. Shemar Stewart has the talent to be great, he needs to keep his head up and learn to finish. Very teachable 
things. Now if we drafted a head case, that could of been a bigger problem honestly.

I coached club soccer for a long time. I learned quickly, I can't teach athleticism. I may be ble to get them in accelaratiion training and make them a little faster, but they need to have speed to begin with and applies with quickness as well.

Stewart said something I liked in his interview. He said I am built for this. Golden loves his motor. What derails great athletes career, it is the get paid and then their desire to be great goes away or they were alreadu lazy and felt entitled.

The more I think about it, you give m an exceptional athlete with exceptional work ethic and he will be very good more aften than not. I hope the kid can stay healthy and has a great rookie year. I hope he can pudh Murphy, Ossai, Samplr and Johnsone to also be better for us.

(7 hours ago)Luvnit2 Wrote: I coached club soccer for a long time. I learned quickly, I can't teach athleticism. I may be ble to get them in accelaratiion training and make them a little faster, but they need to have speed to begin with and applies with quickness as well.

Stewart something I liked in his interview. He said I am built for this. Golden loves his motor. What derails great athletes career, it is the get paid and then their desire to be great goes away or they were alreadu lazy and felt entitled.

The more I think about it, you give m an exceptional athlete with exceptional work ethic and he will be very good more aften than not. I hope the kid can stay healthy and has a great rookie year. I hope he can pudh Murphy, Ossai, Samplr and Johnsone to also be better for us.

Well said. Shemar has the things you just cannot teach already. I don't hate the pick after watching film and seeing what he has to work with.

I hated the pick before watching the guy, very stupid of me. I was just parroting what others were saying about him being a less productive Myles
Murphy, but Shemar has way more talent and is built like an End. His body is fine, Murphy under Hobby was tweaking his body trying to make himself
into something he was not and it backfired in his second year.

The coaches need to get these guys playing in positions to succeed. The coaches that failed are gone, so I have some confidence now.

Gimme a Guard and either a DT or SAF tonight.
Savaiinaea or Ratledge are my preferred Guards in Rd 2, or Wyatt Milum in Rd 3 if they go defense in Rd 2.
TJ Sanders a DT target of mine on Day 2.
Xavier Watts or Andrew Mukuba for SAF. Emmanwori too if he somehow is available at 49. Doubt it though. Feel like he'll be gone by 40.

Rd 2 is often where the Bengals like to trade back 5-10 spots and pick up some extra picks, so be prepared for that.

(6 hours ago)ochocincos Wrote: Gimme a Guard and either a DT or SAF tonight.
Savaiinaea or Ratledge are my preferred Guards in Rd 2, or Wyatt Milum in Rd 3 if they go defense in Rd 2.
TJ Sanders a DT target of mine on Day 2.
Xavier Watts or Andrew Mukuba for SAF. Emmanwori too if he somehow is available at 49. Doubt it though. Feel like he'll be gone by 40.

Rd 2 is often where the Bengals like to trade back 5-10 spots and pick up some extra picks, so be prepared for that.

Good names, forgot about Milum, Sanders and namely Mukuba who could be just what we need at FS after Watts. I don't care if Mukuba is 
undersized, damn good player who I think would immediately be better than Geno Stone.

Would love to get some of the following today:

Will Johnson
Nick Emmanwori
Xavier Watts
Kevin Winston Jr.
Andrew Makuba
Carson Schwesinger
Jonah Savaiinaea
Aireontae Ersery
Tate Ratledge
TJ Sanders
Ty Robinson
Nic Scourton
Jack Sawyer
JT Tuimoloau
Landon Jackson
Ashton Gillotte
Jared Ivey
Kyle Kennard
Cam Skattebo
Quinshon Judkins

(Today, 01:13 AM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Not surprised one bit. Never thought you cared.

At this point, I'm happier than I was going into last off season.  

You wont have the Chase/Higgins distraction because I truly don't believe the Trey situation last that far out.  

I think you have new voices on the defensive side of the ball and coaches that can help players improve.  

We all have coaches in our life that we've worked for that you eventually tune out because they say the same shit over and over.  

At least in my career anyway. 

I still think this is a playoff team and a playoff roster.  Offensively alone, the team is one of the top 3 best in the NFL, defensively only need to be 15-20.  

I want to see a guard, safety or even LB chosen today

I know I am in the minority here and they only have 6 picks total but I would love to see them move up for a guy like Emmanwori or a top guard.

So what if they give up another pick in the 4th round or something like that if it nets them 3 guys who could really help - that’s a win in my book. You never know but every round that goes by means they are drafting a bigger project/less likely contributer. I am not worried about the number of players I just want the best ones they can get. Quality over quantity for me.

I think they have quite a few spots where the roster is deep with solid (if not spectacular) players so take a shot at really improving the weakest areas on the team.

For example: everyone knows they need safety help and that Golden would love to get Watts. Miami also needs a safety and I can see them picking him right before the Bengals and then this board going crazy again.
So if Watts is their guy then they should move up to make sure they get him or Emmanwori or whoever they are hoping for.

(6 hours ago)ochocincos Wrote: Gimme a Guard and either a DT or SAF tonight.
Savaiinaea or Ratledge are my preferred Guards in Rd 2, or Wyatt Milum in Rd 3 if they go defense in Rd 2.
TJ Sanders a DT target of mine on Day 2.
Xavier Watts or Andrew Mukuba for SAF. Emmanwori too if he somehow is available at 49. Doubt it though. Feel like he'll be gone by 40.

Rd 2 is often where the Bengals like to trade back 5-10 spots and pick up some extra picks, so be prepared for that.

It would be hard to argue with any guard you listed for our 49th second round pick

There are a lot of defensive tackles that are good. I am not sure that is a team weakness right now or immediate future as all 4 DT's are signed for at least 2 years. I can see a very good DT dropping to round 4 as many rteams will only draft one of them so very good will fall.

(6 hours ago)WhoDeyK Wrote: Would love to get some of the following today:

Will Johnson
Nick Emmanwori
Xavier Watts
Kevin Winston Jr.
Andrew Makuba
Carson Schwesinger
Jonah Savaiinaea
Aireontae Ersery
Tate Ratledge
TJ Sanders
Ty Robinson
Nic Scourton
Jack Sawyer
JT Tuimoloau
Landon Jackson
Ashton Gillotte
Jared Ivey
Kyle Kennard
Cam Skattebo
Quinshon Judkins

I would remove all DE's, we have a lot of them now and I think Trey is not going anywhere. Also DT position to me is not an immediate need and likely good ones will fall to round 4 or 5.

Otherwise, all of these guys could help us.

I would add the CB Recel from East Carolina, he is injured but may be best CB in this draft

(5 hours ago)Luvnit2 Wrote: I would remove all DE's, we have a lot of them now and I think Trey is not going anywhere. Also DT position to me is not an immediate need and likely good ones will fall to round 4 or 5.

Otherwise, all of these guys could help us.

I would add the CB Recel from East Carolina, he is injured but may be best CB in this draft

Add Benjamin Morrison to this list.  One of the big sites mocked to us tonight with the comment could be the steal of the second round if his hip is healthy.  I could see Golden interested in his golden dome guys like him or watts

(6 hours ago)Luvnit2 Wrote: It would be hard to argue with any guard you listed for our 49th second round pick

There are a lot of defensive tackles that are good. I am not sure that is a team weakness right now or immediate future as all 4 DT's are signed for at least 2 years. I can see a very good DT dropping to round 4 as many rteams will only draft one of them so very good will fall.

I can see a glut of DTs available in Rd 4 that would probably be more like 3rd rounders in another draft class.
As you mentioned, they got 4 DTs signed through 2026, so they have bodies.
What they don't really have is interior pass rush, so I'm expecting them to add someone who can boost that.

(6 hours ago)TJ528 Wrote: At this point, I'm happier than I was going into last off season.  

You wont have the Chase/Higgins distraction because I truly don't believe the Trey situation last that far out.  

I think you have new voices on the defensive side of the ball and coaches that can help players improve.  

We all have coaches in our life that we've worked for that you eventually tune out because they say the same shit over and over.  

At least in my career anyway. 

I still think this is a playoff team and a playoff roster.  Offensively alone, the team is one of the top 3 best in the NFL, defensively only need to be 15-20.  

I agree we will never be the Steelers on defense, but they can't be very bad against the run. We can't let teams use ball control to keep JB and company off the field.

(5 hours ago)ochocincos Wrote: I can see a glut of DTs available in Rd 4 that would probably be more like 3rd rounders in another draft class.
As you mentioned, they got 4 DTs signed through 2026, so they have bodies.
What they don't really have is interior pass rush, so I'm expecting them to add someone who can boost that.

I maybe wrong, but I think the combo of Hill and Jenkins will yield 10 to 12 sacks in 2025.

(5 hours ago)Luvnit2 Wrote: I agree we will never be the Steelers on defense, but they can't be very bad against the run. We can't let teams use ball control to keep JB and company off the field.

I think if you look at the defense that was on the field the last half of the season last year, that'll be closer to what you'll see this season. 

Its telling when the players come out and say "it all clicked when the coaches simplified the play calling".  

New coaches, New DC...New defense with some old thrown in. 

(6 hours ago)TJ528 Wrote: At this point, I'm happier than I was going into last off season.  

You wont have the Chase/Higgins distraction because I truly don't believe the Trey situation last that far out.  

I think you have new voices on the defensive side of the ball and coaches that can help players improve.  

We all have coaches in our life that we've worked for that you eventually tune out because they say the same shit over and over.  

At least in my career anyway. 

I still think this is a playoff team and a playoff roster.  Offensively alone, the team is one of the top 3 best in the NFL, defensively only need to be 15-20.  

The key will be player development to fix the defense, not just rookies but all players. Can Golden improve the young guys?
Hill
Turner
Murphy
Jenkins
McKinnley
Cam-Taylor Britt
Newton
Plus 2025 draft class

(5 hours ago)Luvnit2 Wrote: I maybe wrong, but I think the combo of Hill and Jenkins will yield 10 to 12 sacks in 2025.

You are far more bullish on Kris Jenkins than me, and Hill's never been a 6+ sack guy before.
I think though if the team really is high on Jenkins, they'll definitely wait on another DT until Rd 4-5, if at all.
Maybe Golden also may want to utilize a base DE who acts as a nickel DT more often too rather than have a dedicated 5th DT on the roster.

(4 hours ago)Luvnit2 Wrote: The key will be player development to fix the defense, not just rookies but all players. Can Golden improve the young guys?
Hill
Turner
Murphy
Jenkins
McKinnley
Cam-Taylor Britt
Newton
Plus 2025 draft class

I completely agree Lovnit2.  Personally, I think the defense will be better this year just with different leadership.  

I actually like that Golden was in coillege football the past 3 years because it allowed him to get to know some of these players.  

(5 hours ago)TJ528 Wrote: I think if you look at the defense that was on the field the last half of the season last year, that'll be closer to what you'll see this season. 

Its telling when the players come out and say "it all clicked when the coaches simplified the play calling".  

New coaches, New DC...New defense with some old thrown in. 

The naysayers are not wrong when they say we did not play top QB's or offenses late in the season. But, I agree with you. The Steelers lit us up offensively the first time we played them and defense was much better in 2nd game late on season.

Plus we were missing
Wilson
Hill
Turner
Rankins
Hubbard (not a great loss as he was having a bad year)

So missing a srarting DT, starting LB (our best LB) and 2 starting CB's.

Add in the rookie DT's did not get a full year due to injuries, I think both of them will progress in 2025.

I think the mistake some make is if the team does not sign the best FA in name only, then they dismiss FA and say FO did noting to improve the team. I want us to bring in a vet guard after June 1, but other that that I hope. they try and dtaft BPA every round. Hopefully 1 will be a guard in the draft.