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I'm slowly coming around to this pick. For this year, it'll allow us to play some three safety looks and have additional speed on the field to handle all of the firepower in the AFC. I don't think this ends the JB3 era after this year either. You can still re-sign him and have both Hill and Bates as your primary safeties. If we don't bring Bell back we'd still need a box safety b/c both Bates and Hill can struggle in the tackling department. Overall, this gives Lou some flexibility in his play calling and a little depth for this year. It also starts to prepare us for next year if Bates and/or Bell are gone so we're not starting from ground zero.

time to start rumors so they keep falling. I heard McDuffie has some pending charges. Something about hookers and cocaine.

My final mock draft: I'd be super happy with the first 5 picks. Getting a possible #1 CB, a 3T and a center would be ideal.

Cam Jurgens may be a better option for us. He's still an elite athlete and doesn't have the size concerns. It sounds like he can be a bit too aggressive, but I'm hopeful that if he lands with us Pollack can coach him up.

Yes, this team has multiple needs.

Totally agree, he's fine. He's a good run stopping DE who has good sack numbers as well. I don't consider Hubbard a pass rusher though he has decent numbers....I'm specifically talking about those who that edge isn't a need. I thinking we need another pass rushing edge; as of right now we have one (Hendrickson) and a possible (Ossai).

Fair points, but quite a few players have been unblockable vs. our oline in real games. I'm hoping Ossai turns into a HOF'er, but I wouldn't say our pass rush is solved based on his potential and production in a quarter of preseason football and a few practices in August. I do agree that I may underrate Hubbard a little. He's got good numbers, but watching the games he just doesn't seem to make a huge impact most of the time. I don't think teams are game planning around him and he's not commanding a bunch of extra attention. I like him as a player, but to me he's just average.

WRAPradio - Logan Hall - 114

True. I feel like 99% of Bengals fans thought both Sample and Carman were taken too high so those stick out when they don't work.

Drew Sample and Jackson Carman (still TBD) say hi

1. I agree about warming up to OL at 31. We still have a hole at LG and looking at the AFC, we're going to have to score...A LOT. If we can close up that hole at LG, Mixon and Burrow should be able to make us a top 5 offense. 2. Agree...safety is a huge need. Bates is on the tag (and can be tagged next year) and Bell is in his contract season. I don't want this to be a need because we have other needs, but we need someone in case Bates and Bell are both gone next year. 3. WR in the first two rounds would be fun, but we're talking about a fifth maybe sixth option on offense this year (Chase, Higgins, Boyd, Mixon, Hurst). WR will be a need in future years even if we figure out how to keep Chase and Higgins because unless Boyd takes a tiny deal, it's going to be near impossible to keep all 3. 4. This is the only place I disagree with you. DE is a HUGE need IMO. Outside of Hendrickson, we get no pressure from the edge. People are excited about a 2nd year player, Ossai, who played less than 1 quarter of pre season football. He may be great, but I wouldn't just say we're set at the position because the sample size is way too small. There were times last year where we couldn't sniff the QB. Then when Hendrickson was out we had zero pass rush. Back injuries can be tricky so relying on Hendrickson (or any NFL player for that matter) to stay healthy for 17+ games isn't the best thing. You can't have too many pass rushers and right now we have one who was fighting through a back injury last year. Hubbard is nice, but he's not a pass rusher by any stretch of the imagination. He's good vs. the run and can get some pressure if the back end holds up, but I don't see too many times when he beats his man 1:1 to make a play; it's normally schemed up or on 2nd and 3rd effort.

Then you just let Baker go next year. If we had more cap room I think it would be a good move for us. Who cares what Baker wants…tell him not to even show up for all I would care. An extra second would be nice for us, especially with this staff being known to reach in the 2nd (Sample, Jackson). Higgins was good pick.

If they cut him all of his $18M is a dead cap hit. If they trade him, it opens up that much cap space for them to sign more FAs or extend some of their other guys to lessen their hits in future years.

That’s it…the 2nd rounder for “free” essentially. Let Baker ride the pine this year and don’t re-sign him.

I haven’t looked at the cap lately so I don’t know how feasible this would be, but with the Browns needing to get Baker’s contract off of the books, would you take Baker PLUS a their 2022 2nd rounder, for let’s say our 2022 6th round pick? I think the Browns did something like this a few years ago when they had a little extra space. I doubt we would do something like this with a division rival as it could help them extend contracts with Baker off of the books, but it’s interesting to think about (at least for me).

I would have thought that about Deshaun Watson, Pat Mahomes and Josh Allen. I guess you just never know. I hope you're right though.

I don't think much of this is real, but I'd take it. 31. Linderbaum - I have concerns about his size, but after listening to Goodberry rave about him and watching some highlights to was the concerns out of my mind, I'd be ok with this pick. I like the idea of this pick more that the player himself. I think he'll be fine, but it scares me to have a smaller center against teams like the Browns and Titans. 63. Travis Jones - I wouldn't HATE getting him in the 1st, so if he's here I'd jump on it. A bit of a luxury pick as he's more of a nose than a 3T, but I think he offers some pass rush ability and he will definitely push the pocket at the minimum. I think he's DJ Reader Lite when it comes to stopping the run...there's a pretty good chance he becomes better than Reader vs. the run. He's as strong as an ox 95. Jeremy Ruckert - They say at minimum it takes TEs at least a year to develop. Sit him behind Hurst and Sample and let him learn. He should be better than Sample by mid-year I would hope and he could start getting some playing time. This is more a pick for the future vs. help this year 136. Cam Jurgens - this is another luxury pick. I think he's a 3rd rounder and right there on par with Linderbaum. While we don't need 2 centers with Karas on the squad, he'd offer some developmental depth at guard and center. He can move, so he fits in with the zone blocking philosophy. If we don't get Linderbaum, I'd love to draft Jurgens in the 3rd (or 4th) 174. Juanyeh Thomas - He's got the tools to replace Trey Flowers and be a guy that can hang with TEs. He looks like he's running in mud to me, but he seems to keep up for the most part. More of an in the box safety to me 209. Tre Turner (WR) - It was hard finding any video of him that I like, but he's got the build to be an outside reciever. It's not like VA Tech had a good QB, but Turner still made enough plays. This might be early for him, but he's got some tools. Maybe he could take over for Higgins if we had to let him go...things would have to work out perfectly for that to happen 226. Kyler McMichael (CB) - At this point I'm just looking for positions and traits. I had never heard of this dude, but he has some tools. Probably a special teamer 252. Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa (Edge) - position of need from a big school -- I'll take a chance and see if he can develop

Good stuff. I wonder if they'll still practice outdoor weeks they're not playing in a dome or in warm weather. Could be an advantage practicing in the same weather you're supposed to play in. Either way, it's good to have both options!

That's fair...I'd love to shore up 3T and CB in FA. I think depth at edge is good enough in this draft where we could find someone decent in the mid rounds.

Dane Brugler's Draft Guide finally came out. Here's his assessment on Travis Jones:

Our pass rush was very average last year...and that's with Hendrickson having an all-world year. We definitely need at least one edge. Outside of Hendrickson we don't have ONE person that can rush from the edge. I know people are high on Ossai who played one quarter of the first pre season game, but I wouldn't put all of my eggs in that basket. Even if he turns out to be good, having three good edge players isn't the worst thing in the world at all.

I don't hate it. Any pick to protect the QB or get after the QB I can get behind. A strong pass rush can help cover weaknesses on the back end. With that being said, I don't know what I think about Karlaftis. He was really good at Purdue, but nothing really stands out about him to me. I don't think he's overly quick or strong, he just makes plays -- at the end of the day that's all that matters. I don't know that I'd love this pick, but I certainly wouldn't hate it either.

I honestly don’t remember anything special about Billy Price at OSU other than his grit and leadership. My memory may be foggy, but I seem to remember the OSU line struggling a being highly overrated.

If we don't get a CB in Rd. 1, I don't think we get one. Unfortunately, the same can probably be said for 3T as well. There will always be hidden gems, but we're going to have a big decision to make when we see how the board finally falls on draft day.