Way Too Early Pan Me Mock December 16

[*ochocincos*]

(12-16-2024, 04:35 PM)Whatever Wrote: Despite his size, Walker isn't a great run defender.  Jenkins would definitely have a role on early downs/run situations.  He could potentially earn a starting job  if he improves as a pass rusher, and you can never have enough pass rushers. Similarly, Jackson would rotate at NT.  Reader was only playing around 60% of the defensive snaps when he was here.  You need multiple guys who can take significant snaps.  Plus, keeping Grant and Walker fresh will pay dividends on 3rd downs where we need a rush to get off the field.

I didn't do a FA for this, but G, WR, and S are deep in FA.  There's talk of resigning Tee again.  As much as I think he should be gone, Stone May be doing enough down the stretch to save his job.  G, definitely needs addressed, but not a great class for IOL or WR, really.  That was one of the thoughts with Taylor in 3, give Joe another option and avoid spending premium capital on a bad class.  Put a gun to my head, and a realistic FA would be Steelers ' RG James Daniels, Cards' LG Evan Brown, KC WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Falcons S Justin Simmons.

There wasn't an edge I liked in 2, so I went with the best pass rusher available.  And pretty much any position group we draft on defense is just throwing high picks at the problem.  Draft a DE, we're giving up on Murphy.  Draft a CB, we're giving up on Hill, CTB, and Turner.  Draft a S, we're giving up on Battle.  Ultimately, with the pass rush so bad, it's tough to get a good read on the young DB's, so that's the route I went.

Disagree.

Hendrickson AND Hubbard are going into contract year in 2025.
Murphy could take one of those spots, the new draft pick could take the other spot, even if it's 2-3 years down the road and serve as a rotational guy prior.

Stone, even if kept, is entering a contract year in 2025. They may want to draft a new FS and ride the bench for a year then take over the year after like they did with Dax Hill and Jessie Bates.

For CB, CTB is entering contract year in 2025, possibly Hill too if they choose not to exercise his 5th year option this offseason.
I doubt they would end up keeping both of them on veteran contracts.
Hilton also is set to hit FA after this season, so there's a starting spot opening soon for someone.

Bengals, whether we agree or not, like to draft players a year early and give them a year to develop as a backup before being thrust into a starting role.
They've done this for many years now, so I'm not expecting much different other than possibly FS if they cut Stone.