The 2012 draft was a masterclass by the front office

[Shake n Blake]

(08-19-2015, 03:53 PM)djs7685 Wrote: I wasn't specifically talking about the Detroit draft about starters, but in general. Just because a player is starting doesn't necessarily mean they're good, ya know? I guess I'm just surprised that it seems like a couple people don't view ours as a great draft and just see it as standard for us now.

If Dre Kirk ends up being a legitimate #1 CB, this draft could go down as the best in Bengals history. Let's look at it this way...

Best case (realistic) scenario we're looking at...

Top 5 G
Top 5/10 S
Top 16 #1 CB
Top 16 #2 WR
Top 16 slot receiver
Rotational DT that made a second contract

Worst case (realistic) scenario we're looking at....

Top 5 G
Top 10 S
Mediocre #2 CB
Injury plagued #2 WR that still had a 10 TD year
Top 16 slot receiver
Rotational DT that had 1 year of play time and got cut after 3 years

So, worst case scenario, that's still pretty impressive IMO. Best case scenario we're looking at one of the best drafts in the NFL of the past decade. I'm not a big homie homeroo, but this draft was really good.

I only singled out Detroit for an example. I didn't feel like sorting through every team you listed. I agree though that starting doesn't necessarily mean a player is good. By the same token, we have players from the 2012 who haven't started much (if at all) and we're assuming they're going to be great. 

Of the 6 players you're talking about:


DreKirk: Spent first year injured. He's had his moments as a 4th CB over the last couple years. He really flashed serious promise last year, but we're going into year 4 which is the final year of his rookie contract. So this is the only year where we get serious value from him. His 5th year option will be for 7.5 million. No one knows how he'll fare in a starting role. He's going to be the guy now, rather than a 4th option/dime back. I'm optimistic, but we can't say he's been a smashing success thus far in his career.

Zeitler: Love Zeitler, but top 5? Idk. It was definitely a good pick and he's definitely a good player though.

Iloka: Again, I love Iloka, but I don't know that he's top 5 at his position yet. Top 10? Maybe. I want to see more, but again I'm optimistic. He was great for us last year.

MLJ: We've essentially gotten 1 year out of MLJ. Everyone brings up the 10 TD's, but who knows if he can repeat that number? He had 1 massive game against the Jets (8-122-4) that bloated his stats. This is the final year of both MLJ and Sanu's rookie contracts. Most don't think we'll keep both. Last I heard, MLJ is behind Sanu on the depth chart, fwiw.

Sanu: He's had his moments with trick plays. He had some solid production while AJ was out, but he was among the league leaders in drops.

Thompson: Honestly, Thompson is just a guy. He had 0 sacks after Geno went down and he stepped in. He's probably on the bubble this year, and he should be.

I know that I'm coming off as negative, but I'm only trying to provide an alternative point of view with these players. There's a lot to be positive about, but DreKirk, MLJ and Sanu still have question marks.