Fun thing with living in the U.K and following draft is that you wake up to find out who the #1 pick turned out to be and then see the board reaction in the aftermath!

Of all the comments I actually think the way Hobson put it on the lead article is the most apt - "unBengal" like....at least for the Tobin/Lewis era.

Reflecting on the immediate reaction this i what i think

- Most exciting, intriguing #1 pick since AJ Green. WJax, Dennard, Ced, Zeitler, Drek, even Eifert...did not particularly get me jumping up and down.

- He definitely gives us something different to what we have. In that respect he changes the team from say an OJ Howard or Reuben Foster...or even another WR like Williams

- Kevin Coyle's thoughts were interesting. When your DB's Coach talks as effusively about your WR pick then even the WR coach does then it does make you think....maybe the Steelers, Ravens DB coaches are thinking the same thing

- Injuries and durability. There is no middle ground on this. If he cannot get on the field in his rookie year , or turns into an Eifert like availability issue over the next 4 years then its a terrible waste at #9. Speed and potential won't mean a lot

- Draft history of late rising WR speedsters - to a certain extent if John Ross does not disappoint he is bucking a trend. Yes there are always WR busts but the ones who in the top 10 succeed tend to be the long admired, fully rounded traditional WR1s (AJ, Amari Cooper, Julio). If you look back at similar smaller WR's who tore up the 40 yard dash and rose late in the draft process then the success/bust balance is not so good. Tavon Austin , Ted Ginn, Darrius Heyward-Bey were selected in the 7-9 range.

- What does success look like? - Lets assume injuries are a complete non factor. With AJ Green , Eifert, Boyd, LaFell, Gio as receiving options how much impact/touches is he going in next couple of years at least? #9 pick for a KO returner and 3rd (?) receiving option seems a bit rich and certainly opens up the challenge of could the Bengals not got that lower in the draft. I guess unless AJ Green goes down we may not know what his true numbers could be. If AJ Green and Eifert stay healthy then what is his ceiling??....wonder if he could turn in a John Brown type year in 2015 when they had Larry Fitz and Mike Floyd as other receiving options

Interesting "unBengal" pick....i'll park the difficult question of value at #9 and go positive and say I like that he will make the Steelers and Ravens Defensive co-ordinators have to plan differently with him in the line up.

Great post. This pick has me wondering if LaFell will see significantly less snaps than last year.

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(04-28-2017, 07:50 AM)treee Wrote: Great post. This pick has me wondering if LaFell will see significantly less snaps than last year.

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I think him and Boyd will battle it out for the slot/#3. LaFell is more of a slot guy anyway. I think he showed enough last year to at least be our #4.

(04-28-2017, 07:44 AM)sonofstat Wrote: - Draft history of late rising WR speedsters -  to a certain extent if John Ross does not disappoint he is bucking a trend.  Yes there are always WR busts but the ones who in the top 10 succeed tend to be the long admired, fully rounded traditional WR1s (AJ,  Amari Cooper, Julio).  If you look back at similar smaller WR's who tore up the 40 yard dash and rose late in the draft process then the success/bust balance is not so good.  Tavon Austin , Ted Ginn, Darrius Heyward-Bey were selected in the 7-9 range.

This is, easily, my biggest cause for concern with the pick.

But then I think "Well, Antonio Brown and DeSean Jackson would have been top 10 picks if the draft were done over for their respective years, so it's not like small fast receivers are bad in the NFL in general."

And, to be fair to Ross, he is a vastly superior prospect to Ginn, Heyward Bey and Austin. He is noted for having reliable hands (Weakness for all 3), he is an exceptional route runner (weakness for all 3), he's bigger than Ginn and Austin, each of whom weighed in the 170s at draft time and he actually produced at an elite level in his final year of college, unlike Heyward Bey and Ginn, who never surpassed 1,000 yards or 9 touchdowns in any one year.

I'm worried, but optimistic.

(04-28-2017, 07:50 AM)treee Wrote: Great post. This pick has me wondering if LaFell will see significantly less snaps than last year.

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Yeah, I definitely felt like this pick makes LaFell sweat lol

If he can stay healthy, I will love the pick.

(04-28-2017, 08:52 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: This is, easily, my biggest cause for concern with the pick.

But then I think "Well, Antonio Brown and DeSean Jackson would have been top 10 picks if the draft were done over for their respective years, so it's not like small fast receivers are bad in the NFL in general."

And, to be fair to Ross, he is a vastly superior prospect to Ginn, Heyward Bey and Austin. He is noted for having reliable hands (Weakness for all 3), he is an exceptional route runner (weakness for all 3), he's bigger than Ginn and Austin, each of whom weighed in the 170s at draft time and he actually produced at an elite level in his final year of college, unlike Heyward Bey and Ginn, who never surpassed 1,000 yards or 9 touchdowns in any one year.

I'm worried, but optimistic.

and this is the bit I like...he clearly is not just a burner and is a lot more rounded.  

Also on these boards we consistently say Dalton is a good quarterback who can play great with the right weapons around him...well after losing Jones / Sanu we've certainly replenished now - excited to see how Zamp utilizes him

Right now the injuries / durability are my biggest concern.  

I think we if lose another rookie for a sizeable chunk of this season (and this is a repeating pattern) and then lets say OJ Howard or Barnett or Foster, whoever are busily being productive for their teams then we ain't going to look so smart.  I know this could happen with any team in the draft but I don't care about them...seen enough bench time for WJax, Ced, Dennard to not want that again for the Bengals

GOOD CHANCE HE WONT EVEN MAKE IT TO CAMP CAUSE OF INJURY. GO WATCH HIS DASH AFTER HE WAS DONE. HE CAN'T EVEN MAKE IT OFF THE FIELD AND THIS IS HAILED AS A GREAT FIRST ROUND PICK.

(04-28-2017, 10:46 AM)Marlon23 Wrote:

GOOD CHANCE HE WONT EVEN MAKE IT TO CAMP CAUSE OF INJURY.  GO WATCH HIS DASH AFTER HE WAS DONE.  HE CAN'T EVEN MAKE IT OFF THE FIELD AND THIS IS HAILED AS A GREAT FIRST ROUND PICK.

My understanding was that he had cramps.  Not related to his priors

(04-28-2017, 10:46 AM)Marlon23 Wrote:

GOOD CHANCE HE WONT EVEN MAKE IT TO CAMP CAUSE OF INJURY.  GO WATCH HIS DASH AFTER HE WAS DONE.  HE CAN'T EVEN MAKE IT OFF THE FIELD AND THIS IS HAILED AS A GREAT FIRST ROUND PICK.

I think the relative value of the pick at #9 can definitely be debated - especially for the Bengals who already have two Pro Bowl receivers in AJ Green and Tyler Eifert.  

If he was going to a team with a complete lack of receiving options and they rated him as highly as we did then you'd get a clearer view on what the total production could be and whether he is a true WR1

If he's injury prone like Eifert then its gonna blow as a pick whatever potential he flashes on the field....its bad enough having eifert out and he was a #21 pick and is a proven top 3-5 TE when on the field.    If Ross misses games as a #9 pick, and is only in a receiver #3 / KR role then that is not a great outcome.

(04-28-2017, 08:52 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: This is, easily, my biggest cause for concern with the pick.

But then I think "Well, Antonio Brown and DeSean Jackson would have been top 10 picks if the draft were done over for their respective years, so it's not like small fast receivers are bad in the NFL in general."

And, to be fair to Ross, he is a vastly superior prospect to Ginn, Heyward Bey and Austin. He is noted for having reliable hands (Weakness for all 3), he is an exceptional route runner (weakness for all 3), he's bigger than Ginn and Austin, each of whom weighed in the 170s at draft time and he actually produced at an elite level in his final year of college, unlike Heyward Bey and Ginn, who never surpassed 1,000 yards or 9 touchdowns in any one year.

I'm worried, but optimistic.

Will Fuller is Ted Ginn 2.0.

I was REALLY pulling for OJH but I'm not upset with the pick. Wish we could have traded back a few slots, but I'm reading they tried and there were no takers. If he can stay healthy, I have no doubt Urban will turn him into a great receiver.

I'm thinking Zamp probably knows how to use 3-4 receiver sets more effectively than 2-3 TE sets. He did, afterall, get a lot of his knowledge from Bob Bratkowski, and we even saw last year we ran more 3-4 WR sets due to Eifert missing so much time coupled with the need to see what we had in Boyd.

I think Ross sees some time in the slot this year, and becomes the other outside guy when we run 4 WR (AJ, Ross, with Boyd and Lafell working the slots). Does anyone see him fielding punts and/or challenging Erickson for KR duties? 4.2 speed is FAST and you have to try n get that onto the field as much as possible!

(04-28-2017, 10:46 AM)Marlon23 Wrote:

GOOD CHANCE HE WONT EVEN MAKE IT TO CAMP CAUSE OF INJURY.  GO WATCH HIS DASH AFTER HE WAS DONE.  HE CAN'T EVEN MAKE IT OFF THE FIELD AND THIS IS HAILED AS A GREAT FIRST ROUND PICK.

QUIT YELLING AT ME!!!!  

(04-28-2017, 01:35 PM)The D.O.Z. Wrote: I was REALLY pulling for OJH but I'm not upset with the pick. Wish we could have traded back a few slots, but I'm reading they tried and there were no takers. If he can stay healthy, I have no doubt Urban will turn him into a great receiver.

I'm thinking Zamp probably knows how to use 3-4 receiver sets more effectively than 2-3 TE sets. He did, afterall, get a lot of his knowledge from Bob Bratkowski, and we even saw last year we ran more 3-4 WR sets due to Eifert missing so much time coupled with the need to see what we had in Boyd.

I think Ross sees some time in the slot this year, and becomes the other outside guy when we run 4 WR (AJ, Ross, with Boyd and Lafell working the slots). Does anyone see him fielding punts and/or challenging Erickson for KR duties? 4.2 speed is FAST and you have to try n get that onto the field as much as possible!

he better had!!

I see some people saying he should not do returns due to injuries.   

Hell, if you draft a 4.2 WR at #9 who has TD returns on his CV , is not going to be your WR1 receiver and you DON'T try him on returns then we need our heads examined.  Fine he does not need to be on everyone but if he's a home run threat give him the touches!