sparky151

The team isn't going to trade him and under the CBA, he can't afford to hold out. So unless some other team wants to offer us a haul, he isn't going anywhere.

Hard to believe that's for real. The team just gave him a raise on an extension before last season.

Nobody objects to protecting Burrow, except perhaps Duke Tobin and Mike Pollack. If we get a good RT in round 1, that will be fine. But there will also be good tackles available in rounds 2 and 3. It's about getting the best combination of players.

How is Latham a safer pick than Mims? Latham is the guy who declined to do the standard athletic testing. It's hard to think of a reason for that other than the results would hurt his draft stock. He's also the latest in a long line of flops from Alabama O-linemen. Maybe this time it's different, but that's not the way to bet. Mims on the other hand has plenty of tools and his tape is good. The only complaint is that there isn't enough of it. Wah. He has no reason to stay in school for another year, he's ready for the NFL.

When negative stuff about a player, ie Brian Thomas's "medical issue" comes out, it's usually a team that wants him hoping he falls to them. It's not called "lying season" for nothing.

I think Verse and maybe Latu will go before pick 18.

That comes from the player's agent. Same thing with the claim that Mims and Thomas are moving up team's boards.

1 Mims is fine 2 Hall would be a poor pick for the Bengals. We'd still need a NT and don't need to use such an early pick to replace Carter 3A Leggette will probably go before 80 and that's good for the Bengals. He's as much RB as WR and not very polished. 3B Pretty early for Johnson. He's a good athlete but not a good TE. 4 Ok but I'd swap your 4th and 5th rounders. Sweat is the best NT while there are more RB options if Audric is picked by 149.

Bowers, Q Mitchell, Arnold, Thomas, Mims, Fuaga, Fautanu Maybe JPJ or DeJean

That's not a very attractive proposal for the county. The team wants the county to pick up 86% of their requested improvements in exchange for a 5 year lease extension. No word on whether the rent under the extension covers the county's operating costs. The county should remind the team that threats to move don't carry much weight. Under the Modell law the county can force a sale of the team to a local owner with the price either set by negotiation or if that fails by a jury via the standard eminent domain process.

We have a pair of good 3Ts with Rankins and Hill. We don't have a good NT at present. The top DTs in this draft (Newton, Murphy, and Fiske) are 3Ts and wouldn't make sense for the Bengals, unless Anarumo plans to change his scheme. We can get a NT in round 3 or later. So D-line shouldn't be on the menu in round 1. I agree the Bengals don't need to trade up or reach for a player. There will be good ones on the board at 18 who can help the team. We don't know if Thomas can play the slot since he didn't need to in college. But we do need to replace Boyd's snaps as well as prepare for Tee's departure. There are more slot receiver types in this class than top outside receivers. We can get by for a year without drafting a receiver at all. Gesicki, Jones, Irwin, and Iosivas can cover Boyd's snaps. But Tee has missed a lot of time himself, never playing more than 800 snaps in a season. We don't seem to be close to extending Tee and if we are open to trading him, then drafting Thomas would make a lot of sense. Even with all 3 of Chase, Higgins, and Thomas on the roster, we'd be in good shape weapons wise. Thomas would certainly be the 3rd best WR on the roster and would play ahead of Irwin or Iosivas. Tee wouldn't be good in the slot and Thomas might not thrive there. But Chase certainly can play there a dozen snaps a game. So that rules out D-line or O-line. Unless you think Barton will beat out Volson or Latham or Mims as a rookie will beat out a healthy Trent Brown. Taking a DE would be awful. It would be doubling down on last year's mistake, we we drafted Murphy even though our top 5 DEs were under contract. Unsurprisingly, he didn't play much or have an impact. Let's not be stuck on stupid.

Why? Bowers or Brian Thomas would certainly be starters right off the bat and help the offense. We could address the O-line in round 2 and NT in round 3 or later. So taking a good offensive player should definitely be a possibility.

Anyone who won't be starting in 2024. We've had a couple of disappointing first round picks in 2022 and 2023. Let's not make it 3 years in a row. It's not as if our roster is so bullet proof we have locked in starters at every position. So a Quinyon Mitchell would be a better pick than a Byron Murphy or Johnny Newton for instance.

If you mean trading back with the Bills, not much. Thomas should be a consideration for us. He'd be a good replacement for Tee. We could even then consider trading Tee to a team that will pay him and has a late first or early 2nd round pick. Me too. If we're taking a center to succeed Karras, Jackson Powers-Johnson would be the way to go. He could play LG this season. DeJean's best position is probably FS and we're set there. I'd be happy with Quinyon Mitchell in round 1 as he'd be a top CB prospect in any draft, not just this year's thin group of CBs. No thanks on Wiggins, he's about the same size and speed as Turner but less physical. Arnold would be ok but it's not clear he's fast enough. He went to college as a 5 star safety then became a CB.

Using pick 18 on a guy who will be a backup or starting at LG is poor value. Volson isn't our biggest problem at the moment. We should draft a center as Karras and Hill are the only ones signed currently. But it can wait until day 2 or 3.