03-15-2018, 06:07 AM
Not sure if I've ever made a mock draft before. Here goes.. I used WalterFootball as a reference as far as where guys will land.
Round 1: James Daniels, Center. Center is our biggest weakness on this team after trading for Glenn. We're in the perfect spot to nab the 1st center, so why not? I thought about going with Hernandez here, and seriously considered linebacker Rashaan Evans, but I'm just not confident we still have a shot at our center in the 2nd.
Round 2: Mike Gesicki, Tight End. This is strictly a best player available pick. Walter has him going one pick before us to the Packers. The Packers just signed Jimmy Graham, so I doubt they take Gesicki. I'm not sure we do either. If we bring Eifert back and he's healthy, this guy may not see the field this year. But I just can't ignore the upside with this guy. Huge target for Dalton. When Dalton has a big pass catching tight end to throw to, he's at his best. Other options may be a safety like Rodney Harrison, or maybe an offensive tackle like Orlando Brown, or maybe corner, linebacker, defensive end--who knows what we do here. Picking a center in the first really opens up this pick for anything.
Round 3: Arden Key, DE. Walter Football has Key dropping big time because of off field issues. Sounds like our kinda guy. MJ is nearing the end, and who knows if we have the money for Dunlap after we resign Atkins. There's a lot of defensive ends that will be available around our 1st pick in this round, so maybe the value is too hard to pass up.
Round 3: Alex Cappa, Offensive Tackle. I still think we pick up a tackle in this draft if one falls to us. Maybe Orlando Brown was the guy in round 2, and we go a different route with this pick. I couldn't pass up on Gesicki in round 2 though. Walter Football has Cappa going one pick before us at the bottom of round 3, so this seems like a possibility.
Round 4: Shaquem Griffen, LB. Walter Football has the one armed wonder going in the 4th round. This guy has done nothing but impress with his combine performance, he has great tape, he has a great motor, great drive. I'm really impressed with his character. The only knock is he's missing a left hand. Griffen just seems like our kind of player from a character standpoint. I think we take a chance on him in the 4th.
Round 5: BJ Hill, DT. Here's where I see us nabbing a defensive tackle. I've heard some good things on the Bengalsboard about BJ Hill--comparing him to Geno. I've heard bfine compare DT Pittman to Geno too, so who knows. Don't know what to believe, but this looks like a good spot for us to take a DT. We've had decent success drafting defensive lineman around this area in the draft before.
Round 5: Jamarcus King, CB. I think we need to nab a corner around here. I'm happy with our top 4 corners. I'd like to see us resign Pacman--we'll see. We need to add another body though. King's body type looks a lot like Richard Sherman. He has big play-making ability too. He looks like he could use some coaching to work on his technique though. In the 5th though, I say take a chance on him.
Round 5: This is where I'm not really sure. Well I'm not really sure about any of it.
Do we take a safety here? A wideout? Maybe we can find another Marvin Jones here. Maybe a wideout with punt returning capabilities? A guard?
Overall, I think we can hit on a lot of needs with this draft. One area I didn't touch on was safety. We have a couple starters, but we don't have a bigtime playmaker. Is there a big time playmaking safety available where we're picking in this draft? I don't know.
Another area I didn't touch on was guard. I considered Hernandez in the first, but center is the bigger need, and I'd rather grab who we view as the best center in the draft at 21. I think the coaches could be happy with what we have at guard at this point. But maybe they would've liked us to grab a guard in the middle rounds. I do picture Hernandez on one side and Boling on the other and that makes me drool a bit, but I think we need to take the center there. But hey, if we can nab Hernandez then our center in the second instead of Gesicki, we're looking really good up front.
Round 1: James Daniels, Center. Center is our biggest weakness on this team after trading for Glenn. We're in the perfect spot to nab the 1st center, so why not? I thought about going with Hernandez here, and seriously considered linebacker Rashaan Evans, but I'm just not confident we still have a shot at our center in the 2nd.
Round 2: Mike Gesicki, Tight End. This is strictly a best player available pick. Walter has him going one pick before us to the Packers. The Packers just signed Jimmy Graham, so I doubt they take Gesicki. I'm not sure we do either. If we bring Eifert back and he's healthy, this guy may not see the field this year. But I just can't ignore the upside with this guy. Huge target for Dalton. When Dalton has a big pass catching tight end to throw to, he's at his best. Other options may be a safety like Rodney Harrison, or maybe an offensive tackle like Orlando Brown, or maybe corner, linebacker, defensive end--who knows what we do here. Picking a center in the first really opens up this pick for anything.
Round 3: Arden Key, DE. Walter Football has Key dropping big time because of off field issues. Sounds like our kinda guy. MJ is nearing the end, and who knows if we have the money for Dunlap after we resign Atkins. There's a lot of defensive ends that will be available around our 1st pick in this round, so maybe the value is too hard to pass up.
Round 3: Alex Cappa, Offensive Tackle. I still think we pick up a tackle in this draft if one falls to us. Maybe Orlando Brown was the guy in round 2, and we go a different route with this pick. I couldn't pass up on Gesicki in round 2 though. Walter Football has Cappa going one pick before us at the bottom of round 3, so this seems like a possibility.
Round 4: Shaquem Griffen, LB. Walter Football has the one armed wonder going in the 4th round. This guy has done nothing but impress with his combine performance, he has great tape, he has a great motor, great drive. I'm really impressed with his character. The only knock is he's missing a left hand. Griffen just seems like our kind of player from a character standpoint. I think we take a chance on him in the 4th.
Round 5: BJ Hill, DT. Here's where I see us nabbing a defensive tackle. I've heard some good things on the Bengalsboard about BJ Hill--comparing him to Geno. I've heard bfine compare DT Pittman to Geno too, so who knows. Don't know what to believe, but this looks like a good spot for us to take a DT. We've had decent success drafting defensive lineman around this area in the draft before.
Round 5: Jamarcus King, CB. I think we need to nab a corner around here. I'm happy with our top 4 corners. I'd like to see us resign Pacman--we'll see. We need to add another body though. King's body type looks a lot like Richard Sherman. He has big play-making ability too. He looks like he could use some coaching to work on his technique though. In the 5th though, I say take a chance on him.
Round 5: This is where I'm not really sure. Well I'm not really sure about any of it.
Do we take a safety here? A wideout? Maybe we can find another Marvin Jones here. Maybe a wideout with punt returning capabilities? A guard? Overall, I think we can hit on a lot of needs with this draft. One area I didn't touch on was safety. We have a couple starters, but we don't have a bigtime playmaker. Is there a big time playmaking safety available where we're picking in this draft? I don't know.
Another area I didn't touch on was guard. I considered Hernandez in the first, but center is the bigger need, and I'd rather grab who we view as the best center in the draft at 21. I think the coaches could be happy with what we have at guard at this point. But maybe they would've liked us to grab a guard in the middle rounds. I do picture Hernandez on one side and Boling on the other and that makes me drool a bit, but I think we need to take the center there. But hey, if we can nab Hernandez then our center in the second instead of Gesicki, we're looking really good up front.
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