Final 2018 Draft Mock

[*ochocincos*]

(04-17-2018, 06:02 PM)SadFaceBengal15 Wrote: Love the first too.  I think Bates is overhyped.  He’s my this years taco charlton.  IMO won’t amount to anything in the league just thought they both were good college players.  I’ll take deshon Elliott in the 4th.  We need a ball hawk to create turnovers.  Elliott lead the nation in interceptions.  I like him in the 4th.  I see why some like scales but I think we can do a lot better at backer than scales.  He’s only 6ft and a small 230lbs.  One scout was the word unspectacular in regards to scales and the nfl.  And as much as I’d like to get josh Adams with our 2nd to last pick but he aintgonna fall that far imo.  But overall we have good talent coming out of college so it’s a solid draft.

I understand where you are coming from. I chose Scales because the team has met with him, so I assume he's a Day 3 target.
A guy like Genard Avery has a solid profile and résumé and also is (much) faster and heavier than Scales but he played at Memphis, which is not a Power 5 school. But Nick Vigil also played in a non-Power 5 conference and was selected by the Bengals so it could happen.
I don't really see guys like Kenny Young or Christian Sam any better than Scales.

Regarding Scales being "unspectacular", I don't think anyone would project a 5th round pick or later being "spectacular". They are projected late for a reason. They are expected to become just decent starters or more likely backups/ST players. But every now and then with a good scouting department, you can find diamonds in the rough like Marvin Jones or George Iloka.

As for safety, I used to also be high on Elliott until I watched videos of his interceptions. They all practically fell right to his lap. I didn't see any great coverage or playmaking ability from him. And given that both NFL.com and NFLDraftScout consider him more of a box safety rather than a true coverage safety (reflecting what I saw in videos), I've steered away from him as an early-round prospect. I'd still definitely consider him, Igwebuike, or Armani Watts in the 5th round though if the Bengals decided to wait that long for a safety.

When it comes to Josh Adams, I can see him being available in the 7th round because:
1) He's still dealing with a foot injury
2) RBs always fall due to the plethora of talent
3) From what I've read and watched, he's not a very good "creator." He depends on good blocking up front to give him holes and he's not very agile. I think it really helped Adams having McGlinchey and Nelson blocking for him. He's kinda like Jeremy Hill.

If he's not available in Rd 7, oh well. I just hope there's no RB taken within the first 5 rounds because I think there are bigger needs.