sparky151

Call this one the Big Boy draft.

Yeah, I'd be ok with JPJ at 18. He could probably beat out Volson for the LG spot this year, then replace Karras next season. Bengals have a history of taking centers in the first round. Bob Johnson, Blair Bush, and Dave Rimington come to mind. None of them really lived up to their draft slot but they were solid pivotmen.

Sweat will probably be available at 49. It's possible a team jumps just ahead of us to grab him but he's not athletic enough to play 3 downs in the NFL. That limits his value.

I saw someone suggested the Bengals trade Tee to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence. It would make sense for both teams. Edit: probably too much dead money for the Giants to trade Lawrence. He signed a big extension before last year. Even if traded after June 1, it would be costly for the Gents.

Browns owner is very rich. Jimmy and Dee Haslam sold their truck stop chain to Warren Buffet and collected more than 10 billion for it. They own the Columbus Crew of MLS and have spent freely here in Cbus. The Crew have given them a couple of championships and the Haslams definitely like that. Watson makes 46 mil per year on a guaranteed deal. He isn't worth that much but the QB market has passed way beyond 46 so he's not outrageously expensive. Amari Cooper makes 20 mil per year but is going into the final season of his contract so Jeudy may be his replacement. Chubb has a 16 mil cap hit this year coming off a major injury so he's likely to take a paycut. Garrett and Ward are well paid but not malcontents. So the Browns aren't in an especially dire cap situation over the next few years.

Zach Frazier of West by God Virginia is probably the second best center in the class. He'll likely be on the board at 49 but not at 80.

Sample doesn't really deserve the contract he got this year. 3 years at a higher rate of pay than Gesicki. Crazy. Sample is an ok blocker, has ok hands, but isn't a route runner. We could draft Tip Reiman in round 6 or 7 and get similar for rookie minimum.

Eh, I don't have a problem with teams having multiple uniform combos. Sort of like how EPL teams have several different combos for road games where their primary uni would conflict with the home team.

Bengals have no depth at center behind Karras. Trey Hill hasn't worked out and Scharping was the backup last year but is unsigned. So I'd be fine with it if JPJ is the pick at 18. But we don't need to use a premium pick there as this is a deep class at center.

Risner wants big bucks like Hunt and Jackson got.

Fields first season was with lame duck Nagy as coach. He was on the hot seat and played Andy Dalton ahead of his rookie QB. Season 2 had a new coach but a defensive one who hired a poor OC and didn't upgrade their O-line or weapons. So Fields scrambled a lot and nearly broke Lamar's QB rushing record. Season 3 they brought in a legit receiver and used a first round pick on the O-line but still had a bottom 3 center constantly giving up pressure up the middle. This time they are going to draft a QB, probably Caleb Williams and added another couple of weapons in Allen and Swift and swapped out their center. Maybe he'll have a chance with their new OC but the coach is on the hot seat again.

Browning had a 98.4 passer rating compared to 86.3 for Fields and 81.4 for Pickett. Jake had twice as many TD passes as Pickett on 25% fewer attempts.

Harrison isn't making it to 6. Either Arizona at 4 or Chargers at 5 will grab him. One of those teams will probably trade out so their partner can take a QB but the other will take Marv.

This is a great signing. But Bengals still need to draft at least an IOL and probably a tackle too. Brown and Karras are free agents after the season with Cappa and Volson going into the final year of their deals next year. None of our O-line backups are pushing the starters and it's probably fair to call all of Trey Hill, Jackson Carman, and D'Ante Smith busts.

Players want more guarantees the longer a contract runs. Bengals don't like to guarantee money after year 1. So that makes it a pay as you go option for the team with the player at risk of losing his income without countervailing guaranteed money.

If you're referring to Fields or Jones, then sure. They are seen as busts so they don't have a lot of value. Browning is seen as a guy who got his shot and unlike Dobbs was able to sustain success. That makes him a more viable starting QB than say Stidham.

https://www.nfl.com/news/daniel-jeremiah-2024-nfl-mock-draft-3-0

He's not on the market. You don't think Minnesota is planning to trade up for a QB? You don't think Denver or Vegas won't draft a QB? Bengals aren't looking to move Browning but he's better than some team's current starters. There is presumably some price that would pry him out of Cincinnati.

Eh, it's closer than you might think. Lawrence has higher volume numbers but for efficiency, Fields is in the neighborhood as a passer and a much better runner (though Lawrence is better than you might guess). In Lawrence's big year of 2022, his ESPN QBR was slightly lower than Fields (who ran for 1100 yards that year and got an MVP vote). Lawrence has a better NFL passer rating but not by a lot. Their PFR approximate value scores are equal. Lawrence is a big upgrade for Jacksonville compared to what they had before him. So they regard him as their franchise QB and aren't looking for his replacement yet. If Chicago had Carolina's 2nd round this year and first next year instead of vice versa, they wouldn't be looking to replace Fields. They would give him a couple more weapons and a decent center so he has a chance. In draft hypeland, Lawrence was a "generational" prospect. Fields had a college career that compares favorably with Caleb Williams.

Brown is a much better player than Becton. PFF ranked him as the 11th best OT last year. Those grades above are from halfway through the season. They probably thought Brown would want a better deal than Jonah since he's a better player. But if he only costs 8 mil per year, sign him up for a couple of seasons.

Browning certainly has trade value. Overall, he played well last year, with a higher passer rating than most NFL starters, including Burrow. He's old, has bounced around and was basically a rookie last year. He throw too many interceptions. But he also pushed the ball down the field and completed passes at a high rate. Some team is going to be starting Drake Maye or Bo Nix this year. Browning has already shown he can play in the NFL. If Denver or Las Vegas doesn't find a rookie they can proclaim to be the future of the franchise, they may call the Bengals. Whether or not the Bengals will trade Browning is the question.

Think how bad the Jets and 49ers feel for picking Wilson and Lance when they could have had Chase, Sewell, or Parsons. Then think about the annual QB hype and how much it costs to trade up for a Bryce Young type. Fields isn't good but he's also pretty comparable to Lawrence. Jax doesn't have an alternative to Sunshine so they'll pick up his option. If Bears didn't have top pick this year, they'd be concentrating on building around Fields. He's never really had much of a chance.

Taylor doesn't seem to be rated very highly by the draft industrial complex. He doesn't get drafted in most 7 round mocks I've seen and is ranked in the 300s overall. He had high volume stats with good efficiency in college due to Iowa's terrible offense. But draft analysts aren't wowed by him.

I think we signed OBJ on the Thursday of week 1. It was something like 4 days into the negotiating period.

They said they want to re-sign Wilson after the season. Obviously, that assume he plays well and Fields doesn't beat him out.