Post by 77bengal on Jan 3, 2019 23:35:38 GMT -5
I know. I know. The Bengals are in the midst of finding their next head coach and I'm already pondering the draft. Well, to my defense, most bowl games have been played so I have a fair grasp of the players and I simply love the draft. The positions/units in need of an upgrade are: OL, TE, QB, LB and DT. If these positions are filled with a multitude of quality players, this team will show improvement almost immediately. Replacing overpaid and over the hill veterans with young hungry players should pay dividends almost immediately.
This is an optimistic mock draft and I'm NOT attempting to predict which players the Bengals will draft, just which ones they should consider. PFF = A highly rated Pro Football Focus player. Several trades were purposely included to demonstrate how aggressive the Bengals should be during the draft and how effective being aggressive can be. So, let's get right to it. Shall we?
TRADE! With LB'er Devin White already off the board, the Bengals trade the 11th pick to the Raiders and acquire pick numbers 24 and 28. The Bengals have a lot of holes to fill and there's no better way of doing that than accumulating as many high draft picks as possible. The Bengals should also trade away current players that aren't in the teams future plans.
Round One A: Devin Bush, ILB/OLB, Michigan. Devin Bush is a very talented LB'er. Bush is also fast, good in coverage and a great pass rusher. This guy is competitive and wants to win. He's a true sideline-to-sideline player making big plays all over the place. Has a non-stop motor. Too good to pass up. Goodbye Vontaze Burfict. PFF.
Round One B: Jawaan Taylor, RT, Florida. Jawaan Taylor is a big, strong man that's good at both pass blocking and run blocking. Taylor pancakes many would-be tacklers taking them completely out of the play. He's the perfect example of what type of football players the Bengals should be drafting. Big, strong, talented and nasty. Goodbye Cedric Ogbuehi.
Round Two: Albert Okwuegbunam, TE, Missouri. The Bengals were severely beat up at TE this past season, so drafting Tyler Eifert's replacement is a must. Albert Okwuegbunam is a defenses worst nightmare. Okwuegbunam stands at 6'5" and weighs in at an imposing 260 pounds! He's also fast for his size. Gronkowski-ish mass and strength. Defenses will be forced to pay extra attention to him whenever he's on the field. He's a big time mismatch. Goodbye and good luck Tyler Eifert.
Note: By making an aggressive trade with the Raiders, the Bengals have solidified three out of the five positions in most need of an upgrade. But they're not done. The Bengals are going to 'block draft' which is a term I coined that refers to drafting two or more players at a position or unit.
TRADE! The Bengals trade WR John Ross to the New York Jets for the Jets third round selection. QB Sam Darnold needs help, so the Jets are more than willing to make a trade for a super fast WR who was the drafts number nine overall selection in 2017.
Round Three A: Germaine Pratt, ILB/OLB, South Carolina. The Bengals continue to build up their linebacking corp which is in need of several new faces with speed. Something Bengal LB'er's have been missing for some time now. Germaine Pratt is a great tackler and good in coverage. And Like Devin Bush, Pratt is also a sideline-to-sideline playmaker. Goodbye Preston Brown. PFF.
Round Three B: KJ Hill, WR, Ohio State. KJ Hill is a polished receiver with blazing speed. Hill runs excellent routes and snagged over 60 passes this past season. The Bengals have basically traded Ross for Hill which I think is an improvement. The Bengals continue to improve the team by drafting Buckeyes which is always a good thing. Goodbye John Ross.
TRADE! The Bengals trade QB Andy Dalton to the Washington Redskins for the 'Skins fourth round selection. Besides, the Bengals new head coach wants to pick his QB of the future either this year or next. Jeff Driskel will be immediately inserted as the teams starting QB for the 2019 season unless he's beat out in camp by a newly acquired veteran or a rookie. Regardless, Dalton isn't the answer.
Round Four A: Clayton Thorson, QB, Northwestern. Clayton Thorson has put together three good seasons of playing QB for the Wildcats even though he had virtually no weapons at his disposal. How he put up all those good numbers year after year is anyones guess. Could it be talent and desire? Thorson is tall standing at 6'4" and weighing 220 pounds. He also has a strong arm and is very accurate. He's also demonstrated some scrambling ability. All I know is that he's done things on the field that few QB's could do considering the lack of talent he had to work with on that side of the ball. Goodbye Andy Dalton.
Round Four B: Dakota Allen, ILB/OLB, Texas Tech. Fearless. That's the first word that comes to mind when I think of Dakota Allen. Allen doesn't shy away from contact nor mixing it up with the big boys up front. He's the first defender to dive right into the action regardless of the situation. A sneaky tackler. Gets through traffic amazingly well to drop the ball carrier. Can be found regularly at the bottom of piles holding onto the ball carrier even when it appears he wasn't involved in the play/stop. Once he has a player in his sights, they're going down. Goodbye Vinny Rey. Your hard work and dedication is much appreciated. PFF.
Round Five A: Max Sharping, G/OT, Northern Illinois. Max Sharping is a small school prospect that plays like a five star recruit. Incredibly strong, Sharping throws defenders around like rag dolls. Great work ethic with talent. A bit of a project, but in time he should be able to take over for Cordy Glenn at LT. At minimum he'll make a great G. Should be playing in the league for a decade. He's a big upgrade over Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher. Goodbye Jake Fisher and good luck with your recent health problems. I hope that's all behind you. PFF.
Round Five B: Anthony Nelson, DE, Iowa. Jordan Willis didn't have a good year. Actually, Willis appears to have taken a step back. Hopefully it's nothing more than poor coaching and/or the infamous 'sophomore jinx'. But whatever it is, it's always good to have some insurance. Anthony Nelson fits the Bengal mold of how a DE should be built - tall and heavier. Nelson stands at an incredible height of 6'7" and weighs in at 260 pounds. Goodbye Michael Johnson. PFF.
Round Six: Greg Gaines, DT/NT, Washington. One of the Bengals Achilles heels this past season(s) was their inability to stop the run. Greg Gaines is a noted run stuffer that can be used on short yardage situations such as third and one or on the goal line. Goodbye Niles Scott.
Round Seven: Joe Giles-Harris, OLB/ILB, Duke. This draft is loaded with good LB'er's and the Bengals need loads of LB'er's so why not take advantage? Right? Giles-Harris had 107 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss, four sacks, one interception and two pass break-ups. Giles-Harris is a tackling machine. Goodbye Hardy Nickerson. PFF.
So what do you guys think? Have any players in any of the recent bowl games caught your eye? Who do you want the Bengals to draft? Who do you think the Bengals will draft? Please comment. Thanks, 77.
This is an optimistic mock draft and I'm NOT attempting to predict which players the Bengals will draft, just which ones they should consider. PFF = A highly rated Pro Football Focus player. Several trades were purposely included to demonstrate how aggressive the Bengals should be during the draft and how effective being aggressive can be. So, let's get right to it. Shall we?
TRADE! With LB'er Devin White already off the board, the Bengals trade the 11th pick to the Raiders and acquire pick numbers 24 and 28. The Bengals have a lot of holes to fill and there's no better way of doing that than accumulating as many high draft picks as possible. The Bengals should also trade away current players that aren't in the teams future plans.
Round One A: Devin Bush, ILB/OLB, Michigan. Devin Bush is a very talented LB'er. Bush is also fast, good in coverage and a great pass rusher. This guy is competitive and wants to win. He's a true sideline-to-sideline player making big plays all over the place. Has a non-stop motor. Too good to pass up. Goodbye Vontaze Burfict. PFF.
Round One B: Jawaan Taylor, RT, Florida. Jawaan Taylor is a big, strong man that's good at both pass blocking and run blocking. Taylor pancakes many would-be tacklers taking them completely out of the play. He's the perfect example of what type of football players the Bengals should be drafting. Big, strong, talented and nasty. Goodbye Cedric Ogbuehi.
Round Two: Albert Okwuegbunam, TE, Missouri. The Bengals were severely beat up at TE this past season, so drafting Tyler Eifert's replacement is a must. Albert Okwuegbunam is a defenses worst nightmare. Okwuegbunam stands at 6'5" and weighs in at an imposing 260 pounds! He's also fast for his size. Gronkowski-ish mass and strength. Defenses will be forced to pay extra attention to him whenever he's on the field. He's a big time mismatch. Goodbye and good luck Tyler Eifert.
Note: By making an aggressive trade with the Raiders, the Bengals have solidified three out of the five positions in most need of an upgrade. But they're not done. The Bengals are going to 'block draft' which is a term I coined that refers to drafting two or more players at a position or unit.
TRADE! The Bengals trade WR John Ross to the New York Jets for the Jets third round selection. QB Sam Darnold needs help, so the Jets are more than willing to make a trade for a super fast WR who was the drafts number nine overall selection in 2017.
Round Three A: Germaine Pratt, ILB/OLB, South Carolina. The Bengals continue to build up their linebacking corp which is in need of several new faces with speed. Something Bengal LB'er's have been missing for some time now. Germaine Pratt is a great tackler and good in coverage. And Like Devin Bush, Pratt is also a sideline-to-sideline playmaker. Goodbye Preston Brown. PFF.
Round Three B: KJ Hill, WR, Ohio State. KJ Hill is a polished receiver with blazing speed. Hill runs excellent routes and snagged over 60 passes this past season. The Bengals have basically traded Ross for Hill which I think is an improvement. The Bengals continue to improve the team by drafting Buckeyes which is always a good thing. Goodbye John Ross.
TRADE! The Bengals trade QB Andy Dalton to the Washington Redskins for the 'Skins fourth round selection. Besides, the Bengals new head coach wants to pick his QB of the future either this year or next. Jeff Driskel will be immediately inserted as the teams starting QB for the 2019 season unless he's beat out in camp by a newly acquired veteran or a rookie. Regardless, Dalton isn't the answer.
Round Four A: Clayton Thorson, QB, Northwestern. Clayton Thorson has put together three good seasons of playing QB for the Wildcats even though he had virtually no weapons at his disposal. How he put up all those good numbers year after year is anyones guess. Could it be talent and desire? Thorson is tall standing at 6'4" and weighing 220 pounds. He also has a strong arm and is very accurate. He's also demonstrated some scrambling ability. All I know is that he's done things on the field that few QB's could do considering the lack of talent he had to work with on that side of the ball. Goodbye Andy Dalton.
Round Four B: Dakota Allen, ILB/OLB, Texas Tech. Fearless. That's the first word that comes to mind when I think of Dakota Allen. Allen doesn't shy away from contact nor mixing it up with the big boys up front. He's the first defender to dive right into the action regardless of the situation. A sneaky tackler. Gets through traffic amazingly well to drop the ball carrier. Can be found regularly at the bottom of piles holding onto the ball carrier even when it appears he wasn't involved in the play/stop. Once he has a player in his sights, they're going down. Goodbye Vinny Rey. Your hard work and dedication is much appreciated. PFF.
Round Five A: Max Sharping, G/OT, Northern Illinois. Max Sharping is a small school prospect that plays like a five star recruit. Incredibly strong, Sharping throws defenders around like rag dolls. Great work ethic with talent. A bit of a project, but in time he should be able to take over for Cordy Glenn at LT. At minimum he'll make a great G. Should be playing in the league for a decade. He's a big upgrade over Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher. Goodbye Jake Fisher and good luck with your recent health problems. I hope that's all behind you. PFF.
Round Five B: Anthony Nelson, DE, Iowa. Jordan Willis didn't have a good year. Actually, Willis appears to have taken a step back. Hopefully it's nothing more than poor coaching and/or the infamous 'sophomore jinx'. But whatever it is, it's always good to have some insurance. Anthony Nelson fits the Bengal mold of how a DE should be built - tall and heavier. Nelson stands at an incredible height of 6'7" and weighs in at 260 pounds. Goodbye Michael Johnson. PFF.
Round Six: Greg Gaines, DT/NT, Washington. One of the Bengals Achilles heels this past season(s) was their inability to stop the run. Greg Gaines is a noted run stuffer that can be used on short yardage situations such as third and one or on the goal line. Goodbye Niles Scott.
Round Seven: Joe Giles-Harris, OLB/ILB, Duke. This draft is loaded with good LB'er's and the Bengals need loads of LB'er's so why not take advantage? Right? Giles-Harris had 107 tackles, 9.5 tackles for a loss, four sacks, one interception and two pass break-ups. Giles-Harris is a tackling machine. Goodbye Hardy Nickerson. PFF.
So what do you guys think? Have any players in any of the recent bowl games caught your eye? Who do you want the Bengals to draft? Who do you think the Bengals will draft? Please comment. Thanks, 77.
