03-16-2024, 09:50 AM
(03-16-2024, 08:38 AM)Memphis_Bengal Wrote: This is a good point. Went back and looked at the drafts at the number OTs taken before pick 18:
2023 - 4
2022 - 3
2021 - 3
2020 - 3
So odds are good we will get one of the top 4 or 5 which are all ranked in the top 20.
- Joe Alt. Notre Dame. JR. 6'9" 321.
- Olumuyiwa Fashanu. Penn State. RJR. 6'6" 312.
- Taliese Fuaga. Oregon State. JR. 6'6" 324.
- J.C. Latham. Alabama. JR. 6'6" 342.
- Amarius Mims. Georgia. JR. 6'8" 340.
Anyone after Fashanu is a crapshoot as a day-1 starter IMO. Fuaga is a specimen, but he's better suited to a run-first offense than one like ours that throws as much as any in the league. Mims is out of "project with physical tools" central casting. It would scare the hell out of me to see him line up vs this division's pass rushers in year 1. Latham is a maybe, but I'm always leery of the highly touted Bama OTs. They play on such stacked lines that it's tough to gauge what they can do on their own at times.
I don't hate any of them as fits other that Fuaga, but I REALLY hate the situation the Bengals find themselves in. They are going to enter this draft with a major need. The potential for a Billy Price type pick is there.
There will be a number of guys available in round 1 that can likely help right away at other positions. That could be corner, which we know they want more of (always do). It could be receiver which is the position that the team basically built it's identity on outside of QB, and that could also be d-line. I hope they are smart about not acting out of desperation.
