Thoughts on Keeanu Benton?

[SunsetBengal]

(04-21-2023, 05:53 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: I get the same feeling.

Like, it's 6 days from the draft and if you asked me to bet on which player I think will be selected at 28, I'd say Emmanuel Forbes. The Bengals have shown a ton of interest in him, both at the combine and in top 30 visits. He matches Bengals' historical trends with CB in the first round, he perfectly fits a need as we just lost like 60% of our INTs when Bates and Bell left. And his biggest weakness, his weight, wasn't blatantly obvious on tape (he still was aggressive in run fits and is a good tackler). 

The only question is, will other teams agree and take him before our pick and, if they do, what next? Do you go to the next tier of CB and take DJ Turner or Juju Brents?

Or do you go to TE and take Darnell Washington? Because indications are that Mayer will drop to 26 at worst and Kincaid has injury issues and didn't work out, which typically takes him off many teams' first round board (see Andrew Booth last year).

Or do you go RB? Bijan probably isn't there, but do we take Gibbs? Is that a good investment? Or do we wait for the 2nd for Charbonnett or the 3rd/4th for Roschon Johnson/Tyjae Spears? Or do you wait even longer and try for an Eric Gray in the 5th? Lots of RB depth this year.

I think there are a lot of good ways for this team to go. I personally hope we avoid TE in the first just because we clearly don't value it enough to justify the pick. The last 3 years, we've spent less than 6M on the position, which took us out of the running for a few great TEs in free agency like Gesicki and Schultz. Why spend a 1st round pick on a position that you don't even think is worth 6M dollars?).

The main reason that I could see the Bengals going TE, and Darnell Washington specifically, is because they want to add another dimension to the offense.  Imagine a situation where Tee lines up at X, Boyd and Chase line up in double slot, and Washington lines up inline on the Right.  You could have twin towers in Higgins and Washington on each sideline to win battles for contested catches, and Chase and Boyd creating mismatches from hell in the middle of the field.  That is how Zac and company can one up teams like the Chiefs for AFC and perhaps NFL supremacy.

Edit: With nearly 20% of completions going to the TE position, I could see the Bengals wanting to capitalize with Washington's contested catch ability to increase the efficiency of the throws to that position.