Will they really pick a LBer in 1st round ?

[Whatever]

(03-28-2019, 01:20 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Will the Bengals really go with a LBer in the 1st round of the draft ?

Here's the history of LBers drafted under MB thru the top 3 rounds:

Round 1

1998 - T. Spikes 1-13 B. Simmons 1-17
2005 - D. Pollack 1-17 *
2008 - K. Rivers 1-9 *

Round 2

2005 - O. Thurman 2-16*
2009 - R. Maualuga*

Round 3

1993 S. Tovar 3-59
1998 S. Foley 3-75
2004 C. Miller 3-80 L. Johnson 3-96*
2011 D. Moch 3-66*
2015 P. Dawson 3-99*
2016 N. Vigil 3-87*
2018 M. Jefferson 3-78*

* = under ML

With our GM now for 28 seasons we've drafted four 1st rounders. The first two, Spikes and Simmons were two of the better LBers we've drafted under Mike. Pollack may well have been great one but had his career cut short with a broken vertebrae in his neck. Rivers had a couple decent seasons then had his jaw broken by Whines Hard and never recovered.

Our two second rounders Thurman and Maualuga. Thurman looked like a superstar in the making but couldn't get his life away from football together and fizzled out quickly. Maualuga had a decent career but was a giant liability in coverage.

Our 3rd rounders under Marvin have had little success. Caleb Miller fizzled out, Johnson had some success. Moch and Dawson both had short NFL careers. Vigil has shown a bit of promise and Jefferson is a giant question mark.

So really the only LBers drafted by MB with any longterm success were Spikes, Simmons, and Tovar all pre Marvin. And Maualuga under Marvin.

Isn't it time we broke this chain of draft failures at LBer and get a great LBer in the 1st round ? I'd love to be able to watch a Bengals game without us getting torched up the middle by TE's, crossing routes, and RB's.

The Bengals typically employ a BPA draft philosophy with some exceptions (like Price last year).  If Devin White isn't there, then a LB won't be close to the BPA, hence I don't believe a LB will be the pick.

There are still quality starting LB's in FA like Zack Brown and Brandon Marshall. If the Bengals were sweating it, they'd have offered one of those guys a one year prove it deal.