***2023 NFL Draft Thread***

[lone bengal]

(04-29-2023, 09:28 AM)Soonerpeace Wrote: I don’t think a lot on here realize their focus is competing for Super Bowls every year not one year. For every LA Rams there’s a Buffalo Bills. The Bills went all in with Von Miller and when they lost to the Bengals the GM Brandon Beane wigged out at his plight.

Best part is the Bengals are doing both. Orlando Brown was a huge free agent signing. There active in free agency and not completely mortgaging the future by spending recklessly. The Rams were in a different spot Stafford was 36 so they were all in short term. If I’m a Rams fans I’m happy with the ring and kinda would like to bottom out an get a top QB prospect next year and reset.

[Nepa]

For those think the Bengals selected players who will compete for starting positions in 2023, here is some of the comments from Bengals staff and Ben Baby, who covers the Bengals for ESPN:

Jordon Battle: "Is this pick for depth? Yes. When asked if Battle could potentially be a starter down the line, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said that wasn't something he would ever rule out but it's clear that Battle will be featured in a reserve role for the foreseeable future. ... Battle ... will be a rotational player on defense and get significant reps on special teams."

DJ Turner: "Turner shouldn't be a starter from Day 1. While the timetable is still uncertain for his return, Awuzie is recovering well from an ACL injury. Bengals coach Zac Taylor said that Turner will give depth as an inside and outside cornerback in 2023."

Myles Murphy: "Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is going to get Murphy on the field often as a rookie. Anarumo said Murphy will feature in the team's third-down packages, which will allow him to be a designated pass rusher. This scenario gives Murphy a chance to learn the ropes as a rookie before potentially slotting into a starting role down the road."

These are picks for rotations, depth, special teams, and starting roles in the future, not upgrades of starters for the 2023 season.

[iowahwky4cincy]

(04-29-2023, 09:29 AM)Bengalbug Wrote: The guys we drafted could take the jobs this year in camp.. and be starters.

Not many immediate needs going into the draft so you can go bpa. Pretty good concept

To be fair, Pittsburgh has a lot more room for improvement than the Bengals. They entered the draft needing immediate starters....at a number of positions. The Bengals, not so much. Cincy is still a much better team. In a couple of years, we'll look back on this draft and say that it was very successful. 

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(04-29-2023, 12:18 AM)Joelist Wrote: So did ZT explain how the weakest RB room in the NFL is going to get teams out of 2 high? Because that was a MAJOR need area as it took all the explosion out of the offense.

Seems like you had a rough night from the Bengals giving you the D all night long.

[lone bengal]

(04-29-2023, 09:26 AM)Nepa Wrote: Rotational pieces, back-up depth, and replacement pieces in the future if cannot resign starters like Hubbard and Hendrickson. But no immediate upgrades of the starting 11 on defense or offense for the start of the 2023 season. Good for the future, and keeping the team at a high level, of course.

Now look at a team like Pittsburgh. Starter on OL, starter on CB, and major weapon for DL, and starter in two-TE sets. Major upgrade for the 2023 season. Same for many other teams. Even KC got some starters. So, the starters other teams put on the field in 2023 have improved more than the Bengals have for 2023. Maybe a few years from now, very different. But for 2023, the Bengals upgrade is limited. And we still are going to have to live with Mixon and his god-awful blocking. And Irv Smith, Jr. and his 6'2" seems short for a TE (the average height is 6'4") and could have used an upgrade.

Basically your saying if we drafted a TE you would be happy ? What other positions would be starters if drafted ? Your logic dosent make sense other teams are picking starters because there roster isn’t as good as Cincinnati and they have way more holes for draft picks to start as rookies.

[iowahwky4cincy]

(04-29-2023, 12:18 AM)Joelist Wrote: So did ZT explain how the weakest RB room in the NFL is going to get teams out of 2 high? Because that was a MAJOR need area as it took all the explosion out of the offense.

Improved o-line play should take care of a lot of that. Much more so than a new RB.
RB position itself wasn't the problem. It would be nice to have a north-south brass knuckles type of runner at times, though. 

[Goalpost]

I was hoping for a RB by now but they kept getting picked right before our picks. That's the price you pay when you are successful. You pick near the end of every round.

[OSUfan]

(04-29-2023, 10:05 AM)Nepa Wrote: For those think the Bengals selected players who will compete for starting positions in 2023, here is some of the comments from Bengals staff and Ben Baby, who covers the Bengals for ESPN:

Jordon Battle: "Is this pick for depth? Yes. When asked if Battle could potentially be a starter down the line, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said that wasn't something he would ever rule out but it's clear that Battle will be featured in a reserve role for the foreseeable future. ... Battle ... will be a rotational player on defense and get significant reps on special teams."

DJ Turner: "Turner shouldn't be a starter from Day 1. While the timetable is still uncertain for his return, Awuzie is recovering well from an ACL injury. Bengals coach Zac Taylor said that Turner will give depth as an inside and outside cornerback in 2023."

Myles Murphy: "Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is going to get Murphy on the field often as a rookie. Anarumo said Murphy will feature in the team's third-down packages, which will allow him to be a designated pass rusher. This scenario gives Murphy a chance to learn the ropes as a rookie before potentially slotting into a starting role down the road."

These are picks for rotations, depth, special teams, and starting roles in the future, not upgrades of starters for the 2023 season.

Is this supposed to be a problem? If so it is a great problem to have.

[Bengalbug]

The bengals are absolutely crushing the draft and setting up the defense for sustained success.

Read a few draft grade articles, which are stupid…. However As everywhere I look. No reaches, great value and they will contribute this year.

Hot take, Battle will take a starting job and the other two play over 300 snaps each.

Get some juice on offense today as development pieces for 24 and this is a slam dunk draft. There are two bearcats I’d love at 4… Scott or whyle. Trade a 5th and 6th for swift, with maybe another contingency pick next year that escalates based on production.

[samhain]

I still think they take a TE, but also believe that the loss of Hurst was overblown.

Dude has 400 and something yards and 2 TDs last year. He missed time and his absence had little impact. I believe they won every game he missed. He made some big catches, sure, but he also coughed it up in the Baltimore playoff game. I liked the guy, but we're not losing Travis Kelce here.

Same goes for Uzomah. He was a nice player and a team guy before Burrow came along and elevated him to a somewhat coveted free agent. He reverted to just being a guy last year.

A mid-round depth guy should be more than enough to maintain at this position. Our TE depth was awful last year, but it was good enough for an AFC title game appearance. I don't think we're any worse off now. I'd feel even better about it if I thought Irv Smith could stay healthy.

[Soonerpeace]

(04-29-2023, 09:51 AM)lone bengal Wrote: Best part is the Bengals are doing both. Orlando Brown was a huge free agent signing. There active in free agency and not completely mortgaging the future by spending recklessly. The Rams were in a different spot Stafford was 36 so they were all in short term. If I’m a Rams fans I’m happy with the ring and kinda would like to bottom out an get a top QB prospect next year and reset.

They are tanking for Caleb Williams I’m told. But LA could have easily lost to us. It’s a gamble what they did. It worked for them but easily couldn’t have.

[Ell Prez]

After a night of sleeping on it, and reading all the comments on the board…


I like the draft bc they went bpa. Everyone thinks we had this mastermind strategy going in. We didn’t. It was bpa and positional value. This wasn’t drafting for the future, drafting for depth. It was bpa. If the board fell differently, and BPA was RB, OT, CB it wouldn’t be bc we wanted those positions. It’s bpa. We can create our own stories after the picks, but I don’t think we had an agenda to draft for the future. We went bpa. I’m on board with that.

The one thing I can say, they clearly don’t value TE as a premium position. Not bc they think they’re loaded at TE. It’s just not a need when you have Burrow and 3 stud wr. This was the deepest te class ever, and we didn’t get one. I can live with that when we have chase and Higgins who should each be target 15 times a game.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(04-29-2023, 10:54 AM)Ell Prez Wrote: I can live with that when we have chase and Higgins who should each be target 15 times a game.

Only 3 players had even 170 targets (10 targets/gm) last year with Justin Jefferson leading the league with 182 (10.8 targets/gm). 15 targets a game would be 255 targets each.

At Chase's 65% catch rate and Higgins' 68% catch rate last year, that would be roughly 166 catches and 173 catches. Only 5 guys have EVER had at least 130 catches in a season, and none with 150.

The Bengals threw the 6th most in the NFL on a per game basis, at roughly 38 pass attempts per game, so that would leave 8 per game for the other WRs, TEs, and RBs.

[Housh]

(04-29-2023, 11:11 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote:

Only 3 players had even 170 targets (10 targets/gm) last year with Justin Jefferson leading the league with 182 (10.8 targets/gm). 15 targets a game would be 255 targets each.

At Chase's 65% catch rate and Higgins' 68% catch rate last year, that would be roughly 166 catches and 173 catches. Only 5 guys have EVER had at least 130 catches in a season, and none with 150.

The Bengals threw the 6th most in the NFL on a per game basis, at roughly 38 pass attempts per game, so that would leave 8 per game for the other WRs, TEs, and RBs.

And that’s all they asses deserve.



Naw but yeah, 15 each would be crazy lol

[*bfine32*]

Well, I went 1 for 2 in my Day 2 predictions, let's see about Day 3.

RD4: Zack Kuntz/Josh Wyhlie
RD5: KEONDRE COLBURN
RD6: CHRIS RODRIGUEZ
RD6: OWEN PAPPOE
RD7: MALIK KNOWLES

[Soonerpeace]

(04-29-2023, 10:54 AM)Ell Prez Wrote: After a night of sleeping on it, and reading all the comments on the board…


I like the draft bc they went bpa. Everyone thinks we had this mastermind strategy going in. We didn’t. It was bpa and positional value. This wasn’t drafting for the future, drafting for depth. It was bpa. If the board fell differently, and BPA was RB, OT, CB it wouldn’t be bc we wanted those positions. It’s bpa. We can create our own stories after the picks, but I don’t think we had an agenda to draft for the future. We went bpa. I’m on board with that.

The one thing I can say, they clearly don’t value TE as a premium position. Not bc they think they’re loaded at TE. It’s just not a need when you have Burrow and 3 stud wr. This was the deepest te class ever, and we didn’t get one. I can live with that when we have chase and Higgins who should each be target 15 times a game.

I agree it was BPA. But the future was an element too. In that Hilton and Awouzie and Hendrickson aren’t here forever.

[sandwedge]

(04-29-2023, 10:05 AM)Nepa Wrote: For those think the Bengals selected players who will compete for starting positions in 2023, here is some of the comments from Bengals staff and Ben Baby, who covers the Bengals for ESPN:

Jordon Battle: "Is this pick for depth? Yes. When asked if Battle could potentially be a starter down the line, Bengals coach Zac Taylor said that wasn't something he would ever rule out but it's clear that Battle will be featured in a reserve role for the foreseeable future. ... Battle ... will be a rotational player on defense and get significant reps on special teams."

DJ Turner: "Turner shouldn't be a starter from Day 1. While the timetable is still uncertain for his return, Awuzie is recovering well from an ACL injury. Bengals coach Zac Taylor said that Turner will give depth as an inside and outside cornerback in 2023."

Myles Murphy: "Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is going to get Murphy on the field often as a rookie. Anarumo said Murphy will feature in the team's third-down packages, which will allow him to be a designated pass rusher. This scenario gives Murphy a chance to learn the ropes as a rookie before potentially slotting into a starting role down the road."

These are picks for rotations, depth, special teams, and starting roles in the future, not upgrades of starters for the 2023 season.

It is all the more reason to laugh at people that get all upset, when we are forced to trot out players that are 3rd or 4th on the depth chart. Players that we watch get torched play after play and then we complain about the lack of depth. I think so far in this draft we have taken care of that problem. These guy should all be starters in a season or two. 

[sandwedge]

(04-29-2023, 11:29 AM)bfine32 Wrote: Well, I went 1 for 2 in my Day 2 predictions, let's see about Day 3.

RD4: Zack Kuntz/Josh Wyhlie
RD5: KEONDRE COLBURN
RD6: CHRIS RODRIGUEZ
RD6: OWEN PAPPOE
RD7: MALIK KNOWLES

I agree, TE will be the pick in RD4. I like Whylie a little better than Kuntz, I'd be happy with either though.

[Gdale_Bengal]

Pretty positive no one thought we would draft all D first 2 nights and not many if any would expect to draft Battle.

Over/under on how many DBs they draft today? I say they draft 3 more with a punter somewhere

[Ell Prez]

(04-29-2023, 11:31 AM)Soonerpeace Wrote: I agree it was BPA. But the future was an element too. In that Hilton and Awouzie and Hendrickson aren’t here forever.

If they took rb, slot wr, rt wouldn’t we say we drafted for the future because Mixon, Boyd and Jonah are coming off contracts?