It will be interesting to see how we play the draft this year. Last years draft wasnt the greatest, but I do think Jonah William's will be a good one. As of right now a guy I'm really high on is OG Logan Stenberg in the 3rd round. If we can get him in the 3rd round that will free up the 2nd to take the BPA. I think a free agent LB is a must in this scenario.

My scenario would be..

1st Round-Joe Burrow or take Tua with added draft picks

2nd Round-Safety-Grant Delpit-LSU- This could be the pro bowl caliber safety we've needed for years.

3rd Round-OG-Logan Stenberd-KY- Stenberg does not get moved at all. He holds his blocks and doesnt give up any ground. He is a wall.

FREE AGENT LB

I lean toward taking offense with the first three picks unless some bonafide slam dunk value can be found on the defensive side of the ball(rangy WILL backers would qualify). Why? Because in today's league you need to sustain drives. If a veteran Andy Dalton struggles to make first downs with the same line and receivers, how is a rookie going to look? We caught a glimpse of how a 4th round rookie looked in that offense and it was NOT pretty. 

The defense looked bad early in the year, but rebounded a bit when Dunlap and Dennard came back. With a young core of guys like Hubbard, Pratt, WJ3, and Bates; there's talent there to work with going forward. No matter how good the D may be, no defense in the modern NFL is built to stay on the field for the entire game and not give up points. I think that this is the year that you go out and put some pieces around Burrow and Mixon to try to establish an identity on offense. This may serve to keep your new QB from being overwhelmed or injured before he can get acclimated to pro level play. Green and Eifert are sadly no longer reliable targets. The o-line from 2015 that kept drives humming and allowed for explosive plays downfield is a distant memory. If Burrow is going to have a good career, he's going to need more help than Dalton or Finley got last season.

I think much depends on what if anything happens in free agency/trades. It would be nice to be freed up a little in the draft !

I'm probably in the minority but I think we will most likely need a day two WR.

(02-18-2020, 07:36 PM)Nati#1 Wrote: It will be interesting to see how we play the draft this year. Last years draft wasnt the greatest, but I do think Jonah William's will be a good one. As of right now a guy I'm really high on is OG Logan Stenberg in the 3rd round. If we can get him in the 3rd round that will free up the 2nd to take the BPA. I think a free agent LB is a must in this scenario.

My scenario would be..

1st Round-Joe Burrow or take Tua with added draft picks

2nd Round-Safety-Grant Delpit-LSU- This could be the pro bowl caliber safety we've needed for years.

3rd Round-OG-Logan Stenberd-KY- Stenberg does not get moved at all. He holds his blocks and doesnt give up any ground. He is a wall.

FREE AGENT LB

Honestly, day 2 should pretty much be BPA picks.  You can make legit cases for WR, RB, TE, OL, LB, CB, and S, arguably even NT if Billings isn't retained.  

Delpit would be a good get and could well be the BPA at 33 if he's still available.  Stenberg is a terrible scheme fit.  Kid is terrible at pulling, which means he can't play G in a pin and pull run blocking scheme like ours.  

(02-18-2020, 07:36 PM)Nati#1 Wrote: It will be interesting to see how we play the draft this year. Last years draft wasnt the greatest, but I do think Jonah William's will be a good one. As of right now a guy I'm really high on is OG Logan Stenberg in the 3rd round. If we can get him in the 3rd round that will free up the 2nd to take the BPA. I think a free agent LB is a must in this scenario.

My scenario would be..

1st Round-Joe Burrow or take Tua with added draft picks

2nd Round-Safety-Grant Delpit-LSU- This could be the pro bowl caliber safety we've needed for years.

3rd Round-OG-Logan Stenberd-KY- Stenberg does not get moved at all. He holds his blocks and doesnt give up any ground. He is a wall.

FREE AGENT LB

If the team focused on what the cheaper positions are in the NFL in terms of typical cap hit, they'd go after LB, safety, TE in FA and draft QB, OL, and DL in the first three rounds (or a second OL).

With that said, I can't recall a time they brought in an outside FA who averaged $10+ mill a year, so the likelihood of getting a premiere FA at any position is going to be lower.
I wouldn't be surprised to see QB, WR, and LB drafted in the first three rounds given that those positions have starters hitting FA this year or next year.

(02-18-2020, 07:36 PM)Nati#1 Wrote: It will be interesting to see how we play the draft this year. Last years draft wasnt the greatest, but I do think Jonah William's will be a good one. As of right now a guy I'm really high on is OG Logan Stenberg in the 3rd round. If we can get him in the 3rd round that will free up the 2nd to take the BPA. I think a free agent LB is a must in this scenario.

My scenario would be..

1st Round-Joe Burrow or take Tua with added draft picks

2nd Round-Safety-Grant Delpit-LSU- This could be the pro bowl caliber safety we've needed for years.

3rd Round-OG-Logan Stenberd-KY- Stenberg does not get moved at all. He holds his blocks and doesnt give up any ground. He is a wall.

FREE AGENT LB

that would be exciting first 3 picks if it happened.  

Which direction should we go? Offense. Just like we did with Palmer.

Round 2 - Highest rated OL on the board - just like Steinbach
Round 3 - Highest rated offensive weapon (TE, WR) - Just like Kelley Washington. I wouldn't be opposed to on OT if we go OG in round 2.

(02-19-2020, 04:55 PM)Hammerstripes Wrote: Which direction should we go?  Offense.  Just like we did with Palmer.

Round 2 - Highest rated OL on the board - just like Steinbach
Round 3 - Highest rated offensive weapon (TE, WR) - Just like Kelley Washington.  I wouldn't be opposed to on OT if we go OG in round 2.

They shouldn't reach for a player just because of need, but we've seen their big board can be (much) different than we'd expect.
Examples being Ogbuehi and Fisher. Bengals supposedly had both rated (high) in the 1st round, so they took what they believed to be BPA that just happened to cover a position of need.

From what most pundits have said, the strength of this draft class is WR, CB, and OL.
If the Bengals went Burrow and then followed with WR, OL, and CB, I'd totally get it, but I'd bet many would be frustrated that the Front 7 wasn't addressed earlier (barring actually addressing in FA with someone the fans believed was good).

I’m seeing Delpit in 1 in a lot of mocks.

(02-20-2020, 11:17 AM)ochocincos Wrote: They shouldn't reach for a player just because of need, but we've seen their big board can be (much) different than we'd expect.
Examples being Ogbuehi and Fisher. Bengals supposedly had both rated (high) in the 1st round, so they took what they believed to be BPA that just happened to cover a position of need.

From what most pundits have said, the strength of this draft class is WR, CB, and OL.
If the Bengals went Burrow and then followed with WR, OL, and CB, I'd totally get it, but I'd bet many would be frustrated that the Front 7 wasn't addressed earlier (barring actually addressing in FA with someone the fans believed was good).

Yeah, I was trying to post that one quick.  I left out the part about having similar grades on all these guys.  I always believe in going BPA.

That being said, with the depth at WR, I wouldn't take one at 33.  

Trading Dre K would create a need for a CB. Damon Arnette from OSU would likely be the best one still available at 33. I'd be ok with that pick, even though I'm praying at Patrick Queen falls to us. We'd have both the offensive and defensive MVPs from 2020 BCS Champion LSU Tigers. That would be pretty special.

(02-18-2020, 10:55 PM)Bilbo Saggins Wrote: I lean toward taking offense with the first three picks unless some bonafide slam dunk value can be found on the defensive side of the ball(rangy WILL backers would qualify). Why? Because in today's league you need to sustain drives. If a veteran Andy Dalton struggles to make first downs with the same line and receivers, how is a rookie going to look? We caught a glimpse of how a 4th round rookie looked in that offense and it was NOT pretty. 

The defense looked bad early in the year, but rebounded a bit when Dunlap and Dennard came back. With a young core of guys like Hubbard, Pratt, WJ3, and Bates; there's talent there to work with going forward. No matter how good the D may be, no defense in the modern NFL is built to stay on the field for the entire game and not give up points. I think that this is the year that you go out and put some pieces around Burrow and Mixon to try to establish an identity on offense. This may serve to keep your new QB from being overwhelmed or injured before he can get acclimated to pro level play. Green and Eifert are sadly no longer reliable targets. The o-line from 2015 that kept drives humming and allowed for explosive plays downfield is a distant memory. If Burrow is going to have a good career, he's going to need more help than Dalton or Finley got last season.

I agree wholeheartedly Bilbo.Build a dominant offense around Burrow.Lineman and receiver in rds 2 and 3.

(02-25-2020, 03:25 AM)BURROWorBUST Wrote: Trading Dre K would create a need for a CB. Damon Arnette from OSU would likely be the best one still available at 33. I'd be ok with that pick, even though I'm praying at Patrick Queen falls to us. We'd have both the offensive and defensive MVPs from 2020 BCS Champion LSU Tigers. That would be pretty special.

I am seriously doubting that the Bengals will move Dre K. from the team.  I fully believe that he plays this year, and then they decide if they are going to re-up him, or just draft a shiny, new 1st round CB in 2021.  

I'm also having my doubts that they squeeze the trigger on LB at the #33 slot, as I feel like they will see Vigil and Pratt's notable improvement after cutting Brown, and decide that they have found the "solution".  So, I predict that they sign Nick Vigil to a modest 3 year deal, and pick a LB in the rounds 3-5 range.

I also predict that they sign AJ Green to a 3 year deal, pretty much ruling out WR as a must have at 33.  With this being such a deep class at WR, it won't really matter, as they can likely find a WR that will make the team in just about any round.

If all of my predictions come to fruition, and the traditional Bengals logic valuing QB, CB, WR, DE, and LT as the "premium" positions, that would leave the #33 pick truly open to BPA, and I'd be fine with that.  If a Grant Delpit was sitting there, I take him.  If a Kenneth Murray is sitting there, I take him.  If one of the outstanding OL is sitting there, I take him, and so on, and so forth.