My Draft Wishlist

[augustisback003]

This year, for the first time in a long time, I actually have no clue as to how the Bengals will conduct their draft. Usually you have an inkling, Andre Smith in '09, Jermaine Gresham in '10, A.J. Green and Andy Dalton in '11, but this Year there aren't any holes, other that CB, that are viewed as immediate needs. With that in mind and with this considered a deep draft for CB's I actually have no idea as to who the Bengals will select with the 24th overall pick. Here my wishlist of players I'd like to see drafted by the team, regardless of Round or position.

QB
Zach Mettenberger QB 6'4⅞" 224 LSU
Aaron Murray QB 6'0½" 207 Georgia
AJ McCarron QB 6'3¼" 220 Alabama

RB
Carlos Hyde RB 5'11⅞" 230 Ohio State
Tyler Gaffney RB 5'11½" 220 Stanford
Damien Williams RB 5'11¼" 222 Oklahoma

OL
Taylor Lewan OT 6'7⅛" 309 Michigan
Zack Martin OT/OG 6'4¼" 308 Notre Dame
Xavier Su'a-Filo* OG 6'4⅛" 307 UCLA
Marcus Martin OC 6'3⅜" 320 USC
Weston Richburg OC 6'3⅜" 298 Colorado State
Ja'Wuan James OT 6'6" 311 Tennessee
Jack Mewhort OT 6'6" 309 Ohio State
Trai Turner* OG 6'2⅝" 310 LSU
Gabe Jackson OG 6'3¼" 336 Mississippi State

DL
Ra'Shede Hageman DT 6'5⅞" 310 Minnesota
Kony Ealy DE 6'4" 273 Missouri
Stephon Tuitt DE 6'5½" 304 Notre Dame
Aaron Lynch DE 6'5" 249 SOUTH FLORIDA

LB
Ryan Shazier OLB 6'1⅛" 237 Ohio State
Anthony Barr OLB 6'4⅞" 255 UCLA
Adrian Hubbard OLB 6'6" 257 Alabama
Trent Murphy OLB 6'5⅜" 250 Stanford

DB
Darqueze Dennard CB 5'10⅞" 199 Michigan State
Justin Gilbert CB 6'0⅛" 202 Oklahoma State
Kyle Fuller CB 5'11¾" 190 Virginia Tech
Calvin Pryor* S 5'11⅛" 207 Louisville
Phillip Gaines CB 6'0⅜" 193 Rice
Keith McGill CB 6'3⅜" 211 Utah
Jonathan Dowling S 6'2¾" 190 Western Kentucky

 

[ckhokie]

Mine is simple:

But with my luck, he'll undoubtedly go to the Browns or Steelers, who are also interested in him.

 

[BKBroiler9000]

Hard to argue with that list. Gimme Fuller, Mettenberger and an OT and I'll be happy. Well...at least until football season actually starts..

 

[CrashDavisSports]

If Dennard is there, you have to go with him, he can be a difference maker.

On the other hand, I would not be totally opposed to the Bengals going with Hyde and then Martin in rounds 1 and 2. Put BJGE on the blocks, and go with a two back set most the time with Hyde and Bernard in the backfield.

Get a big, young, smart center like Martin to anchor the line the next 10 years. Turn this into a running offense again, giving Dalton a chance to choose the appropriate time to go for passes short, medium, or long.

An offense with Hyde, Bernard, Green, Jones, Sanu, Eifert, Gresham. That has some crazy ass talent right there. You can run, pass, tricks with Sanu. You would never know what the F you are going to get out of the offense. Hyde brings a whole new element to the offense that we do not have being able to be a power back, has speed and vision, and with Bernard back there too, defenses would have to play a whole lot more honest and prepare for a run, but what are you going to get? The quick power back, or the shifty lightning of Bernard who can catch like a WR.

If you are going to overpay Dalton's ass, and you plan on keeping Green, then you surround those two with as much talent as you can, and with Martin anchoring the line with Whitworth and Smith on the outside, with Boling and Zeitler in the middle, you have a pretty formidable offensive line to pair with those weapons.

I like your wants, and think we need to get a good CB if we can in round 1, but I would not be opposed to this either...

1st Round - RB Carlos Hyde, Ohio State
2nd Round - C Marcus Martin, USC
3rd Round - CB Jaylen Watkins, Florida (very fast CB with good coverage skills)
4th Round - OT Justin Britt, Missouri
5th Round - DE Brent Urban, Virginia (can play both DE and DT in a 4-3, strong, not real raw like Hunt)
6th Round - LB Ronald Powell, Florida (exceptional player that has issues staying healthy, take risk)
7th Round - QB Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech (has all the tools, but needs better fundamentals)
College Free Agent - WR Chandler Jones, San Diego State (as that shifty WR to replace Hawkins)

 

[cincygrad]

Wait..... You want to overpay Dalton and Green and then run the ball 50 times a game?

We don't need another high round running back. We need a serviceable guy (not the Firm) and we need to expand Gio's role in the offense. More than anything though, we need an actual center -- It's amazing how much better this run game will look if we could get some blocking.

 

[DanBengalfan]

I think he stated if we are going to over pay Dalton's ass, not Dalton himself.

in other words, he'd be happy letting Dalton go or trading him if he asked for too much money. next season will be the jury on Dalton, we all know it.

whether we reach for a rb remains to be seen. this team is too easy to draft for since we don't do much in FA

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Wait..... You want to overpay Dalton and Green and then run the ball 50 times a game?

We don't need another high round running back. We need a serviceable guy (not the Firm) and we need to expand Gio's role in the offense. More than anything though, we need an actual center -- It's amazing how much better this run game will look if we could get some blocking.

I don't think Dalton is worth what he is asking for. However, Marvin and Mike seem determined to sign Dalton to an absurd contract he has not earned, especially in the playoffs.

If you are goign to give Dalton that much money and force us to keep him, then minimize his abaility to sabotage the sucess of the offense and become more of a running team, not become a run first offense with an occassional pass.

I still think the offense should be about 50/50 on run versus pass, giving Hyde and Bernard about 30-35 total runs together, and Dalton getting about 30-35 passes a game. With that type of talent, the fact we are playing more ball control offense and moving chains and taking time of possession, we should be able to mount about 60-75 offensive plays a game depending on how slow we are between plays.

All I am saying is, IF we are insisting on overpaying Dalton (with us knowing his limitations) then I HOPE they go with a more ball controlled offense, bring in Hyde, make the defense go crazy with formations and talent, keeping them off balance, and giving our defense plenty of rest during the game. Our secondary is aging, the best defense against our aging secondary is less reps durign a game. Keep their old legs fresher.

As I said, if Dennard is there, you take him. If not, I am not opposed to going with Hyde, and Martin.

Do not resign Dalton this year. If we lose him in FA next year, almost every FA QB in the NFL would kill one another to take over this offense, and this offense would put any young QB in position to succeed from day 1.

 

[augustisback003]

Actually there are a couple of players that I inadvertently left off my list. How in the World did I forget RB Andre Williams, DE Kareem Martin or DT Kelcy Quarles? Absolutely unforgivable!

QB
Logan Thomas QB 6'6⅛" 248 Virginia Tech

RB
Charles Sims RB 6'0" 214 West Virginia
Andre Williams RB 5'11⅜" 230 Boston College
Terrance West RB 5'9¼" 225 Towson
Storm Johnson RB 5'11⅝" 209 UCF

FB
Jay Prosch FB 6'0¾" 256 Auburn

WR
Donte Moncrief WR 6'2⅜" 221 Mississippi
Allen Robinson WR 6'2⅝" 220 Penn State

DL
Kareem Martin DE 6'5⅞" 272 North Carolina
Kelcy Quarles DT 6'3¾" 297 South Carolina

DB
Aaron Colvin CB 5'11⅜" 177 Oklahoma
Loucheiz Purifoy CB 5'11½" 190 Florida
E.J. Gaines CB 5'9⅝" 190 Missouri

 

[Cincyfan78]

If Dennard is there, you have to go with him, he can be a difference maker.

On the other hand, I would not be totally opposed to the Bengals going with Hyde and then Martin in rounds 1 and 2. Put BJGE on the blocks, and go with a two back set most the time with Hyde and Bernard in the backfield.

Get a big, young, smart center like Martin to anchor the line the next 10 years. Turn this into a running offense again, giving Dalton a chance to choose the appropriate time to go for passes short, medium, or long.

An offense with Hyde, Bernard, Green, Jones, Sanu, Eifert, Gresham. That has some crazy ass talent right there. You can run, pass, tricks with Sanu. You would never know what the F you are going to get out of the offense. Hyde brings a whole new element to the offense that we do not have being able to be a power back, has speed and vision, and with Bernard back there too, defenses would have to play a whole lot more honest and prepare for a run, but what are you going to get? The quick power back, or the shifty lightning of Bernard who can catch like a WR.

If you are going to overpay Dalton's ass, and you plan on keeping Green, then you surround those two with as much talent as you can, and with Martin anchoring the line with Whitworth and Smith on the outside, with Boling and Zeitler in the middle, you have a pretty formidable offensive line to pair with those weapons.

I like your wants, and think we need to get a good CB if we can in round 1, but I would not be opposed to this either...

1st Round - RB Carlos Hyde, Ohio State2nd Round - C Marcus Martin, USC
3rd Round - CB Jaylen Watkins, Florida (very fast CB with good coverage skills)
4th Round - OT Justin Britt, Missouri
5th Round - DE Brent Urban, Virginia (can play both DE and DT in a 4-3, strong, not real raw like Hunt)
6th Round - LB Ronald Powell, Florida (exceptional player that has issues staying healthy, take risk)
7th Round - QB Logan Thomas, Virginia Tech (has all the tools, but needs better fundamentals)
College Free Agent - WR Chandler Jones, San Diego State (as that shifty WR to replace Hawkins)

Unless a RB is shades of AP, I would never, ever draft a RB in the first round. Not happening. Someone may take him if they believe they are a RB away, but with the devaluation of the RB position, the short shelf life, and the potential for busts, that pick is way to valuable to use on a non-valuable position, in terms of where they are drafted/value.

 

[DanBengalfan]

if there is one thing I trust Hue Jackson to do, it's find a running back that can compliment Bernard for awhile. wasn't he involved in helping us draft a few guys?

or was that someone else?

 

[ckhokie]

It would be retarded to draft Hyde in the first round. He's not even 1st round talent in a position we're not in dire need of.

Logan Thomas won't be available in the 7th. I would bet he's off the board in the 4th.

 

[DanBengalfan]

I think we would trade back in the scenario where we draft Hyde

rookie rbs aren't always what people expect them to be, and the Bengals likely won't consider it.

 

[augustisback003]

This is a ridiculous draft for RB's where you could still get a phenomenally talented player as late as the 4th Round. This is probably the best draft in 20 yrs.

Andre Williams RB 5'11⅜" 230 Boston College
Tyler Gaffney RB 5'11½" 220 Stanford
Damien Williams RB 5'11¼" 222 Oklahoma
Lache Seastrunk RB 5'9½" 201 Baylor
Terrance West RB 5'9¼" 225 Towson
Storm Johnson RB 5'11⅝" 209 UCF

 

[DanBengalfan]

It would be cool to have a guy named Storm.

 

[cincygrad]

I think you guys are missing the point. Carlos Hyde is a Buckeye.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Probably true. Letting a little Buckeye homer come through I suppose.

However, we are drafting later in the first, isn't even like it is a top 20 pick.

Guess I was just thinking since it is not a top 10 pick, not even a top 20 pick, and perhaps trading back would not be an issue either into later 1st round, if Dennard and Fuller are completely gone. Might be teams wanting to trade up for someoneas well right in that area.

I would not be opposed to drafting a tackle or guard in round 1 either, and Martin in round 2. Beef up that offensive line. Dalton actually seems better at QB when he has a chance to step back, look over the field and then throw. It is his quick dropback and immediate release for timing patterns that suck completely. Beef up that line, give Dalton time, give Bernard room, and give the WR's a chance to make a move or two before just throwing the ball.

 

[augustisback003]

It's not being a homer to state that Carlos Hyde, in the right system, could become a dominate back in the NFL and put up Alfred Morris like numbers. Hyde is a beast! What he lacks in long speed he makes up with balance, power and vision. I would love to see him replace BJGE but the only way that's going to happy would be if the Bengals were to select Hyde in the 2nd but I don't see that happening.

The play at 1:25 tells you everything you need to know.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLHW_fZ_tF4

 

[Cincyfan78]

Exactly. I think his power style would absolutely blend with Gio's speed, it would be a perfect 1-2 combo, and you know that for a game or two, if needed, either could probably carry the ball 20 times. Maybe a little less on Gio, but Hyde is built for it.

I'm just not using the 1st round pick on a RB unless I think he's the next AP, or Barry Sanders, etc...he's got to be THAT good.

Personally, I think defense needs the most help, and I would be looking at CB and LB with the 1st pick. I lean CB because of the unknown about Hall, Newsome's age, and Krikpatrick not showing he's ready to start, or will ever be.