Our drafting has sucked lately

[*ochocincos*]

(01-31-2024, 05:29 PM)Whatever Wrote: Why would you think there is one?  It's not a good NT class.  There's no NT with a 1st round grade at all.  The highest graded one is Sweat, who's flirting with falling out of the Top 50 entirely(though he is showing better today).  If there was a NT that experts thought could immediately be a quality starter, they'd have a 1st round grade.

NT has a huge learning curve, anyways.  Not only are you going through the jump from college to NFL competition, but unlike most other DL, you face constant double teams.

You can draft a guy and throw him out there as a starter, but it doesn't mean he's that caliber of player, at least not yet.  If you're in a rebuild, that's fine.  If you're gunning for a SB, it's not.  It doesn't make sense when there's a number of proven NT's in FA.  

I don't feel that's how that works.
If that was the case, we'd be seeing way more RBs, TEs, and NTs with 1st round grades.

It's more about value of the player at impactful positions.
NTs are not as highly valued because most don't offer much in the pass rush department at all.


Let's look at Baltimore's NT, Michael Pierce as an example.
Pierce went undrafted in 2016.
He only started 1 game as a rookie, but he played nearly 400 snaps that year, putting up 35 tackles (5 TFL) and 2 sacks.
The next year, he played 594 defensive snaps and started 13 games. He put up 49 tackles (2 TFL), 1 sack.
This past season, he played 640 defensive snaps, starting the entire season. He put up 42 tackles (2 TFL), 1 sack.
Pierce is considered one of the better NTs in the league.

Harrison Phillips is another example of contributing a lot early but not being a 1st round pick. Phillips was 3rd round with BUF and played 389 defensive snaps as a rookie.

It's definitely possible to find quick contributors at NT in the draft outside of the 1st round.

Let me turn this around though...other than Reader (who is coming off an injury btw), what other NT in FA is worth getting to fill that NT spot?
I ask because I'm ok taking a chance on a rookie after looking at the FA crop.
If Bengals want to sign Reader on a 1-year or 2-year stopgap deal as well, that's fine, but I don't think it's nearly as difficult finding a solid NT as you do.