The 2012 draft was a masterclass by the front office

[Shake n Blake]

(08-19-2015, 02:16 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: All solid points and yes this was a great draft and shocking Shake (very knowledgeable poster) disagreed

The better the team, the harder for any draft pick to make an instant. For example Bodine started immediately due to no competition. But, he was one of the worst centers last year in the NFL.

Some fans equate draft pick success to starting immediately and that can be far from the case. Dre has not started due to being behind 3 #1 draft pick CB's his 1st 3 years. He very well could have started immediately on teams weak at CB like both the Steelers and the Ravens or others. But, he had some injuries early and then he had to beat out 3 solid CB's. He has to beat another one in Dennard right now as well. It appears he has beat out 30 year old and highly paid Leon Hall on the outside.

I hope each draft yields us 2 to 3 on the 53 man roster and a few practice squad players because the Bengals also are signing their young players to second contracts (keeping their own) which means less open spots on the roster and PS.

I think I'm being very reasonable here. I said it was a good draft. I just don't think it's quite as awesome as some. I count DreKirk as a solid choice, and I realize that injuries and (perhaps) competition at the position have kept him off the field. So I don't count him as a bad pick at all. I just don't count him as a big home run yet. 

Maybe you worded it wrong, but I don't see how you expect only 2 or 3 draft picks to make the 53 man roster. Teams rarely cut players taken in the first 5 rounds. You don't see 4th or 5th rounders on Practice Squads very often, either. So in reality, usually around 5 rookies will make the 53 man every year. I expect 2-3 players from every draft to (eventually) become serious contributors. 

That's very realistic normally, but in 2012 we had 9 picks in the first 5 rounds. So my expectations were raised for that draft. With 4 extra quality picks, I expect a couple more contributors. We got them. So like I said, solid draft. Not a home run though. We should expect 5 contributors with that many extra picks in quality rounds.