Grade the Bengals Draft

It is amazing how people love to hate on the Bengals. Yahoo gave the Bengals a D- lowest of all AFC teams.. Clayton called us the #1 losers because we didn't get Ellis and we drafted Simpson over Kelly and Sweed.. Well last time I checked

Rivers+ Sims is greater than Ellis!!! We got to pick from Simpson, Sweed, Kelly and Jackson... Who did we choose? Simpson! Maybe the Bengals know something about drafting WR's...

I agree, you would think the Bengals would get more credit for not giving up alot of picks to move up and get Ellis, when in return we were able to get Rivers who is a great character guy with good leadership skills, and Sims who will be a good DT and was a projected 2nd rounder at one point.

As for recievers, I think our past success has proven we know what were doing in that area.

Yeah, I think it's laughable when some hack desides to grade a football team based on his watching college football every weekend on ESPN.  If you say the Bengals are idiots for drafting Simpson, then the same writer MUST logically conclude that the Rams, Redskins, Packers, Bills and Broncos are also idiots, because they also passed on Sweed and Kelly.   Or maybe those hacks need to suck down a piece of humble pie and admit that the collective intelligence of 6 football teams knows more about drafting WR's than they do.  I guarantee that the Bengals, Rams, Redskins, Packers, Bills and Broncos have drafted more Pro-Bowl WR's than the slobs at Yahoo.

In Simpson I see a guy with good size (6'2"), good speed (4.5), huge hands, long arms, crazy leaping ability, team captain with 4 years of production and no injury concerns who could be a beast in the red zone.  The masterminds at yahoo counter with, "um, yeah, but he went to a small school."  Brilliant.  So he must suck because ESPN didn't kiss his sphincter like they did with Kelly and Sweed?  John Stallworth went to Alabama A&M, T.O. went to Tenn-Chattanooga, Steve Largent went to Tulsa, Jerry Rice went to Mississippi Valley State, Randy Moss went to Marshall (before everyone knew who Marshall was because of that movie).

As for the topic of this thread...I liked their draft for the most part, with three exceptions.  1. I don't like the Shirley pick.  Even with picking Rivers, Simpson, Lynch and Sherry, I think they deserve to get roasted by the media on the character issue.  To me, Shirley looks like a guy who has made numerous bad decisions and has shown no remorse or interest in changing.  2. Special teams - with all the WR's they took, i would have liked to have seen them get someone who could improve the return game.  3. RB - Bengals.com says that they didn't take an RB because they feel good about Rudi and Perry's recovery.  That's fine, but I would have loved to see them get Choice in the 4th round.   

Huberh3,

Yeah I agree I thought they would go for a RB... I was hoping for Kevin Smith but I'd rather have Pat Sims in the 3rd round. Maybe we will bring in another over the hill RB needing a scene change in Shaun Alexander.. We could only hope to get a Jamal Lewis "Pheonix Rising" but my guess probably not.. We will just have 2 Rudi's tiptoeing around like.....

It is a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation for Cincy!

If the team had traded up to get Sedrick Ellis then all these people would have said "Well he is a good player but not good enough to trade up for".

All these sports writers love to nit pick about the Bengals choices. Out of the 252 players drafted there must have 200 of them with character issues but people will always question The Bengals because of the past.

I gave them a grade of B because they drafted what they needed and did not break the bank for unproven talent.

Keith Rivers was the best LB in the draft and you know the Patriots would have taken him over Jerod Mayo if he were there.

Jerome Simpson is a FREAK of nature and if he had gone to a big school he would have easily been a first round pick.

Pat Sims has all the tools for a dominant DT but needs to show the willingness to play at the next level. If he can do that then he will be a great player.

Anthony Collins is a Monster and has already shown flashes of brilliance in his first couple of practices. Anytime we get a guy who can protect Carson Palmer,it's a good thing.

Andre Caldwell played well at Florida and was a better college prospect than his brother Reche Caldwell, who at times has played great. Good choice to restock the WR's and with Palmer throwing him the ball, he landed in a good situation.

Jason Shirley is huge risk but if he can keep himself out of trouble he has upside. The guy is ENORMOUS and take up two o line blockers to get LB penetration.

Corey Lynch!!! Hell the guy is already a Celebrity in Ohio after blocking the kick for App State to beat Michigan. He will bring some great talent to Special teams and my compete for Safety playing time.

Matt Sherry is the first TE drafted in the Marvin Lewis era and should help out in the passing game when two TE sets are on the field. Keeps our offense from being stagnant and the predictable 3 WR sets should die down because they are so predictable.

Angelo Craig is a local boy with the Perfect Size for a DE, with coaching he may be able to contribute. List this under project player.

Mario Urrutia is that big WR that is so trndy right now. I don't know much about him but he gives the team more depth and another possible target for CP.

So, that is a lot of potential talent!!!

Of course we will never know if this was a good or a bad draft until probably 2010! But I think it was well thought out and the Bengals stuck with the board and did not reach too far for any player.