Grade This Years Draft

[PDub80]

(04-30-2017, 07:39 PM)TKUHL Wrote: I think people are mad cause the draft was more of a last desperate attempt to make this line better before this season. i know its rare to find a automatic starter at T in the later rounds of the draft but its not unheard of. The line was horrible last year when we had Whit and Zeitler, how do you think its going to be this year. I think we dropped the ball by not keeping Whit. He should have retired a Bengal. Im glad we picked up Smith but I think we should have tried for another OT in FA. 

Ok, I am going to go ahead and put this in large font, bold CAPS, so everyone can understand....

THE O-LINE PROSPECTS IN THE 2017 NFL DRAFT WERE THE WORST IN NFL HISTORY.

It's ^ that simple.

I study the draft religiously. I mean, hard core, into it from the day the NFL season stops - religiously. An O-lineman early or as a serious prospect in this draft would have been a colossal waste and a gamble. The #1 OT in this draft was a 2nd rounder and projects to be a guard his first few years because he's, to quote Mike Mayock, "Still a little sloppy and has poor technique". This first O-lineman taken off the board did so at an historically low #20 and is considered a project as well and has only played 1 season of FBS football.

Here's another one news flash... ROOKIES AREN'T COMING INTO THE BENGALS LOCKER ROOM AND STARTING OVER THEIR CURRENT PLAYERS OR MAKING ANY MEGA CONTRIBUTIONS., BARRING MAJOR INJURY.... NOT EVEN ON THE O-LINE. ESPECIALLY SINCE THIS DRAFT'S O-LINE PROSPECTS SUCKED... EPIC.


O-line, this draft... sucked.

[TKUHL]

(04-30-2017, 07:57 PM)BFritz21 Wrote: I went with an A-, but it's between that and B+.  Originally, I was very low on the draft, but all the draft sites are either giving us a B or ranking us in the top five drafts in the league.

1.  Would have LOVED Howard here and I think he could have been huge for us.  Ross could be really good, including a big play threat, but I'm wondering if Marvin will even let Zampese even take shots downfield with him.

2.  Mixon- LOVE this pick because he's the best back in this class.  He's explosive and will open-up play action a lot more than Hill does.

3.  Willis- love it because we need more out of our horrible pass rush.

4.  Lawson-  same as Willis and I love doubling-up because you can never have too many pass rushers.

4.  Glasgow- Solid pick.  Might have been a bit early, but I think he can wreak havoc in the middle of the line.  He could do well in freeing up Atkins and our ends.

5.  Elliot- Wanted Gonzalez but I'm warming up to this pick after watching his pro day workout.

5.  Dielman- we needed more help on the line and earlier, but he could battle for a spot.

6.  Evans- not expecting much, but is fast enough to help on special teams and I'd like him to be more physical to play backer but he could eventually be solid in covering the tight ends of our division.

6.  Wilson- not sure what to make of this pick.

7.  Schreck- wanted Howard early but Schreck is a big target that I think is underrated and could be a great safety valve.  We never seem to use players to their potential, though.

I'm leaning more towards an A after typing all that.

You forgot somebody.

[BFritz21]

(04-30-2017, 09:28 PM)TKUHL Wrote: You forgot somebody.

4.  Malone- hell of a pick.  VERY underrated due to poor QB play!

[Joelist]

I went with a plain A.

Ross and Mixon both speak to one of the big issues on offense - lack of true speed. If you go up and down the roster on offensive skill positions, and remember that Gio is hurt and Burkhead gone we had no burners to speak of. Well, now we have one in the backfield and one that can go out opposite AJ and unlike Cody Core has decent hands and is considered a good technical receiver in addition to the blazing speed.

We also picked up two good DL prospects who could be in rotation right away, and a potential placekicker.

[Shake n Blake]

Pdub is right. I know some were probably looking at the draft as a last ditch way of improving the o-line, but this was the wrong draft to do it. That's why I was so pissed that we didn't address the line properly in free agency. Once that happened, I knew the Bengals were showing they are content with what they have, which is ridiculous IMO.

I think they handled the draft extremely well, but free agency was a disaster and they're fools for putting all their eggs into the Ogbuehi/Fisher/Andre baskets. It's as if they didn't learn anything during last year's disaster.