03-23-2017, 03:20 PM
The Bengals are currently slated to have 11 draft picks in the 2017 draft. Marvin Lewis is already on record stating that 11 picks are not going to make the team. In order for it to make sense to trade down from #9, you would have to be sold on a couple of things:
1. The player selected at #9 will not be substantially better than the players available toward the end of the first.
2. The Bengals will be able to find trade partners for trading back up into rounds 2-4 so as to not waste many of their 12-13 draft picks on players who will never make the roster.
3. There is a glut of talent in rounds 2-4 that will make this course of action more worthwhile than taking the player who is deemed to be, at worst, the 9th best player in the draft according to the big board.
So who should they take at 9 instead of trying to load up on talent in rounds 2-4? I have a big preference for a DE at that spot. This year's draft seems to coincide too perfectly with a big need for them to ignore DE in the early rounds. I'd like for them to nab one of the following three at number 9:
1. Solomon Thomas - Stock has been rising and appears to be a very safe prospect at DE. Great strength and should offer a steady pass rush to whoever takes him. Looks to be gone before 9, but anything can happen.
2. Taco Charlton - The big knock on this guy is that he is a "one year wonder." I'd argue that his production in previous years really doesn't look too shabby for the amount of snaps that he got, it shows him being a steady contributor. The light may have come on the past season, which indicates that he should only get better. His size/athleticism opens the door to a very high ceiling - he's a bit of a "swing hard in case you hit" type of a pick in that regard. If he's able to learn anything from Dunlap/MJ/Atkins he should be able to use that frame at an NFL caliber level before too long.
3. Derek Barnett - He's been analyzed to death but at the end of the day he knows how to rack up sacks. The false starts and lack of amazing measurables are the biggest blights on his record. No one is going to care about that if he cleans it up and learns how to live in the backfield.
Another poster put it pretty well: three years from now no one is going to care whether somebody was taken at 9 or at the bottom of the 1st. If you want someone at 17, why aren't you comfortable taking them at 9? What happens if the next 8 players on the board get taken and you're left without a backup plan? Just what are you going to do with all of those draft picks if you're looking at a roster that has a limited amount of openings?
1. The player selected at #9 will not be substantially better than the players available toward the end of the first.
2. The Bengals will be able to find trade partners for trading back up into rounds 2-4 so as to not waste many of their 12-13 draft picks on players who will never make the roster.
3. There is a glut of talent in rounds 2-4 that will make this course of action more worthwhile than taking the player who is deemed to be, at worst, the 9th best player in the draft according to the big board.
So who should they take at 9 instead of trying to load up on talent in rounds 2-4? I have a big preference for a DE at that spot. This year's draft seems to coincide too perfectly with a big need for them to ignore DE in the early rounds. I'd like for them to nab one of the following three at number 9:
1. Solomon Thomas - Stock has been rising and appears to be a very safe prospect at DE. Great strength and should offer a steady pass rush to whoever takes him. Looks to be gone before 9, but anything can happen.
2. Taco Charlton - The big knock on this guy is that he is a "one year wonder." I'd argue that his production in previous years really doesn't look too shabby for the amount of snaps that he got, it shows him being a steady contributor. The light may have come on the past season, which indicates that he should only get better. His size/athleticism opens the door to a very high ceiling - he's a bit of a "swing hard in case you hit" type of a pick in that regard. If he's able to learn anything from Dunlap/MJ/Atkins he should be able to use that frame at an NFL caliber level before too long.
3. Derek Barnett - He's been analyzed to death but at the end of the day he knows how to rack up sacks. The false starts and lack of amazing measurables are the biggest blights on his record. No one is going to care about that if he cleans it up and learns how to live in the backfield.
Another poster put it pretty well: three years from now no one is going to care whether somebody was taken at 9 or at the bottom of the 1st. If you want someone at 17, why aren't you comfortable taking them at 9? What happens if the next 8 players on the board get taken and you're left without a backup plan? Just what are you going to do with all of those draft picks if you're looking at a roster that has a limited amount of openings?
