Retool the defense and prep for IOL departures mock

[*ochocincos*]

Most of the college teams have played 6 games, which is halfway through their regular season.
Bengals are also 6 games in, giving us an idea of where the likely needs will end up being heading into next offseason.

1) Mason Graham, IDL Michigan - Dude instantly improves the DL from Day 1. Watch this dude's tape, he jumps off the screen. Immediate contributor. Even if Jenkins and Jackson pan out, the Bengals need a menace inside.

2) Xavier Watts, FS Notre Dame - 2023 DPOY and led the nation last year in INTs. Ball hawk center fielder type of safety. If the Bengals want to find a long-term guy to put next to Battle, Watts could be that dude.

3) Luke Kandra, IOL UC - Bengals likely have seen a lot of this kid play being he's local not only at UC but also high school at Elder. He was stellar last year, showing his ability to be a road grader while also allowing only 2 sacks in the passing game. Kandra is position-versatile and could be a great pickup.

4) Josaiah Stewart, EDGE Michigan - I really wanted to go Tyler Warren (TE Penn St) here because I like what he could add to the offense if Gesicki leaves, but I also really like what Stewart could add to the defense as a pass rushing specialist. He's not big enough to be an every-down DE, but he could be great if Anarumo can get creative with him outside rushing the passer.

5) Derrick Moore, DE Michigan - Run stuffing edge setter who has some pass rush ability too. Bengals are getting whooped on the ground and in a division that has 3 run-heavy teams, so they need someone who can stop the run.

6) Bryce Foster, IOL Kansas - Experienced, versatile IOL who has played plenty of C. Let him come in and compete with Matt Lee for starting C duties if they feel comfortable letting Karras go in FA.

7) RB, WR, or TE - probably won't make much of an impact anyway, at least for a while.

[J24]

Nice Mock- If we get Graham then that would be a massive addition!

[*Synric*]

Isn't Xavier Watts the Irish's rover? I haven't watched him yet. 

[Hammerstripes]

Love the picks, but it's getting pretty obvious that we are playing our way out of Graham.

I would also say that a CB is something we will have to address in FA or fairly early in the draft. Hilton is getting older and Dax is coming off an ACL. We can never have too many of those.

[*ochocincos*]

(10-22-2024, 11:53 AM)Hammerstripes Wrote: Love the picks, but it's getting pretty obvious that we are playing our way out of Graham.

I would also say that a CB is something we will have to address in FA or fairly early in the draft.  Hilton is getting older and Dax is coming off an ACL.  We can never have too many of those.

We'll see.
I could see Graham potentially being available around 8-10.
Getting to low teens might be a stretch.

10th pick last year was the Vikings at 7-10.
15th pick last year was the Colts at 9-8.

Bengals still need 4 wins just to get to 7-10.
I'd say with the remaining schedule, that's definitely achievable.
Raiders, Titans, Browns *should* be wins.
The rest of the schedule may be toss-ups or not favored, so getting to 9-8 may not happen.
Getting to 10 wins (which is what I think is required for playoffs) would require 7-3.

Personally, I am not overly in favor of adding yet another fresh-out-of-college CB to a stable of dudes all on rookie contracts other than Hilton (who I would be surprised to get re-signed at 31 years old next March).
Bengals have Hill, CTB, Turner, Newton, and Ivey all on rookie contracts. They invested early draft picks in Hill, Turner, and CTB just over the past few years.
Now if Stone ends up actually panning out for the Bengals by season's end, we could remove that need and maybe put a CB in Rd 2 (or CB in Rd 1 and 3T in Rd 2), but one good game from Stone doesn't make up for 6 games of poor play. I'm not sold yet on Stone.

As of right now, assuming the Bengals actually end up picking 10-20, there looks to be more projected DL in that range than DBs.
Only Will Johnson (CB) and Malaki Starks (FS) projected Top 20 for DBs.
Bengals are currently slated to pick 13th if the season ended today. At the time I posted the mock, they were picking Top 10.