dex

"I think you've got to have some flexibility." Especially when you have a massive hole at nose tackle...

Cincinnati should be assembling their big board early this week, if they haven't done so yet. Impossible to know which ones will still be available, but almost certainly two to four of these six linemen should fall to the Bengals at pick 18. Cincinnati will surely pick from this group. In alphabetical order: TROY FAUTANU - Played left tackle and some left guard for Washington in his college career, but many sites list him as a guard because he doesn't have ideal OT height. Fautanu does have long arms that increases his length, and most evaluators believe he has the versatility to play guard or tackle. Extremely good pass protector, which fits a passing team like Cincinnati. TALIESE FUAGA - Played right tackle at Oregon State. An absolute mauler in the run game with a nasty streak that coaches love to see. Some people think he could play left tackle too, but right now is pass protection lags behind his run blocking. Would he be the best fit for Cincinnati's pass-first offense? JC LATHAM - Started at right tackle at Alabama for several years. Fits Cincinnati's current Orlando/Trent Brown tackle mold. Latham is a massive tackle with very long arms. Often called the strongest player in the draft regardless of position. Lateral quickness may be lacking, but his calling card is his length and strength. AMARIUS MIMS - The lowest floor but the highest ceiling of all the offensive linemen here. Size, length and athleticism are all off the charts. Very inexperienced, might need a redshirt year. Could eventually be able to play either tackle position at a high level, but probably would be a non-factor for much or all of his rookie year. BYRON MURPHY - A defensive tackle at Texas who doesn't have ideal length but is very athletic and strong. Played both 3-tech and nose tackle in college. Known as a pass blocker but holds up very well against the run. Was part of a deep rotation at Texas where his snaps were carefully managed. JOHNNY NEWTON - Illinois DT who was considered a top 10 pick coming to his last season. Had excellent pass rushing stats at Illinois. Played hurt his senior season but still managed to take a lot of snaps. Also shows up pretty well against the run as a 3-tech. How would you rank these six linemen on your big board?

Pretty good draft, especially from the 3rd round on. - Ben Sinnott is one of my favorite TEs. Zac always talks about what a great TE coach that James Casey is. How about giving him a mid round draft pick to work with? Cincinnati has gone longer without drafting a TE than any other team in the NFL. Maybe this year... - Tyrone Tracy would be a great RB pick, especially in the 6th round. I do want the RB position to be addressed in the draft, just later on Day Three. The team has too many other pressing needs to go RB early. Tracy is a converted WR, is older than teams might prefer and is very new to the RB position but has so many of the physical traits that teams are looking for. Simmons would love him on special teams too.

Pretty easy to tell what the Bengals are most focused on with this draft. A whopping 15 of their 19 listed top 30 visits were with offensive/defensive linemen. DT Evan Anderson, FIU DT Johnny Newton, Illinois DT Justin Rogers, Auburn DT Maason Smith, LSU DT McKinnley Jackson, Texas A&M DT T'Vondre Sweat, Texas ED Chop Robinson, Penn State ED Gabriel Murphy, UCLA ED Xavier Thomas, Clemson OT Amarius Mims, Georgia OT Bayron Matos, South Florida OT Giovanni Manu, British Columbia OT Javon Foster, Missouri OT Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State OT Troy Fautanu, Washington S Daijahn Anthony, Ole Miss TE Erick All, Iowa WR Jalen McMillan, Washington WR Joshua Cephus, UTSA

There was some recent talk about Fashanu sliding down some, but I don't believe it. Alt and Fashunu are the two top pure left tackles, no projection necessary there, I think Fashanu goes no later than pick 14 to New Orleans.

With the new kickoff rules in place, LBs for special team units will likely be a focus in rounds 6-7. I wouldn't mind another late round punter to challenge Robbins either. Should also take a stab at a nose tackle or two late, even if they might be available after the draft as an UDFA. Last year the Bengals got outbid on most of their priority free agents. Unless they plan to spend more money this year, they will have to draft them late or risk being outbid.

We would all like to think there will be a few good nose tackles available next weekend, but that seems to be the weakest position in the entire draft. Maybe more show up with decent grades elsewhere, but The Beast has only a pitiful handful. This is actually a better than usual draft for 3-techs, but the nose tackle position looks pitiful. T'Vondre Sweat - 4th round (important to note that Sweat earned the 4th round grade BEFORE the recent DUI) Fabian Lovett - 5th-6th round Khristian Boyd - 6th round Jordan Jefferson 6th-7th round (one of 3 LSU DTs expected to be drafted, a sort of tweener closer to being an actual NT than the other two obvious 3T types) McKinnley Jackson -6th-7th round (a few other sites have Jackson rated more like a 4th rounder) ...And that, sadly, is the entire list. The Bengals have shown some interest in Auburn's Justin Rogers, who is listed as a Priority Free Agent in The Beast. My guess is that Rogers will be drafted by some NFL team anyway, if out of desperation if nothing else. In fact, I'm guessing that this small handful of serviceable note tackles will be over-drafted, with demand so high and supply so few. Nose tackle is a position that Cincinnati absolutely needed to address in free agency, and somehow it never happened. So they have a position problem that may not have a draft answer at all, unless they want to roll the dice on Sweat before another desperate team decides to do the same.

A big part of the appeal of Murphy to me is how effective he is at defending against the run at his less than ideal size and length. Obviously Murphy isn't the immovable object that Sweat is, but it still amazes me that Murphy got about 70 more snaps in the A gap than Sweat did, even with fewer overall defensive snaps than Sweat. Murphy handled double teams well at the college level, as he is incredibly strong physically. Here is part of what Dane Brugler's The Beast said about Murphy (and how he might be used gap-wise): Overall, Murphy doesn’t have ideal length, but his rare combination of lower-body twitch, natural leverage and power throughout his frame sets his apart. With his disruptive energy, both as a pass rusher and versus the run, he projects as an impact starter who can play shaded nose or three -technique, similar to Grady Jarrett.

I feel like Latham with his 30-plus starts in the SEC is far more likely to be taken before Mims with his paltry 8 starts. This would be a weird stat to look up, but I'd be willing to bet in the the history of the NFL there has never been an OL with less than double digit college starts taken with a top 20 overall pick.

2 teams that could take possibly Murphy - Minnesota at 11 and Denver at 12 - are also trying to move up to get a QB. Minnesota has 2 number ones as a starting point. Denver doesn't have a lot of draft capital, but there's been talk that Patrick Surtain could be available. Both Arizona and the Chargers could use an elite CB. I also wonder if Penix could be an option for one of these teams if they can't trade up into the top 5.

Less than a week to go until the draft, and there seems to be a growing consensus that there are 12 players who are an absolute lock to go in the first 17 picks. Not saying they will be the first 12 picks or who might select each and every one, only that they will surely be off the board before pick 18. 5 QBs - Williams/Maye/Daniels/McCarthy/Penix (Penix might seem like a reach, but there are so many teams in the top 16 or so that need a QB...Seattle at pick 16 feels like his floor) 3 WRs - Harrison/Nabers/Odonze 1 TE - Bowers 1 OL - Alt 1 EDGE - Turner 2 CBs - Arnold/Mitchell That would 5 other players will be selected before pick 18. The Bengals have to be hoping that an EDGE or 2 like Verse/Latu go in the first 17 picks. There will be some other offensive linemen taken ahead of pick 18, depending on team grades and scheme fit. Denver at 12 definitely could take Murphy if they can't use the pick to solve their QB problem. The Broncos don't have the draft capital to move up. The New Orleans at 14 will definitely be going OL but which one... Fashanu, Fuaga, Fantanu or Latham? Seattle at 16 is another team that could go OL. Jacksonville would like to go CB but maybe both Arnold/Mitchell are off the board. If they don't have a particular OL prospect they covet there, the Jags could trade back like they did last year. Some team might want to come after Murphy (if he's still on the board) or a sliding OT that they fear the Bengals would select.

This is thinking ahead to an extension contract down the road.

It wasn't in the preseason that Schrager was heaping praise on Taylor-Britt for his potential, it was in early November (obviously when CTB was still healthy) for his actual play after a big chunk of the reg season was over. The date of this tweet is Nov 5th:

A healthy Taylor-Britt is a CB1 in my book. He finished his rookie season strong and began last season very strong. I thought CTB and Hendrickson were the team's top defensive players for a large part of the season. Too many others had down years. CTB has to stay healthy though.

If Mitchell is somehow still available at pick 17, I think the Jags will probably take him. They have a real CB need. It might be the only position that would keep them from trading down several picks (as they did in the last draft) so that a team can jump in front of the Bengals to take a sliding lineman.

If you are lucky enough to have a franchise QB, the 1st round pick should almost always be either an offensive or defensive linemen. Almost every Pro Bowl caliber linemen, especially O/D tackles, were taken in the 1st round. Even more so if you are lucky enough to have an early to mid 1st rounder. The trenches are where you find the most value. Meanwhile there are plenty of Pro Bowl caliber WRs/TEs/RBs/LBs/safeties that were drafted in later rounds. So bottom line, the Bengals at 18 should either take Murphy or an offensive lineman of equal or greater value. I don't care what skill position guy happens to slide.

Agree if the there is a real graded difference between 2 players. But maybe as a tiebreaker factor...

Wonder if the Bengals would pass on a prospect because his agent is very difficult to deal with? Muleghetta, the agent who represented both Bates and Higgins, also represents Taliese Fuega.

Even though I don't like waiting until the 5th for a WR, I would still take this mock draft in a heartbeat. This draft even adds a late 7th round punter to give Robbins some competition. So yeah, it's too good to be true.

I would bet the Jets front office wish Rodgers would shut up. They want to win game and sell merch, but their leader is such an embarrassment.

There are a lot of 7 round media mock drafts, but I always pay special attention to the Dane Brugler one in The Athletic. Yeah, these things are always a crapshoot, but The Beast is just so detailed. Here is what he came up with for Cincinnati: 1 (18). Byron Murphy II, DT, Texas 2 (49). Cooper Beebe, G, Kansas State 3 (80). Theo Johnson, TE, Penn State 3 (97). D.J. James, CB, Auburn 4 (115). T’Vondre Sweat, DT, Texas 5 (149). Anthony Gould, WR, Oregon State 6 (194). Erick All, TE, Iowa 6 (214). Giovanni Manu, OT, British Columbia (Can.) 7 (224). Sam Hartman, QB, Wake Forest 7 (237). Ryan Rehkow, P, BYU

Yes, we need line help on both sides of the ball, but there seems to be more DT value than OT on Day Two. Of course there is much more 3T value rather than NT, which is Cincinnati's biggest hole on defense. But we need to grab an OT while we have a pick as high as 18. That may not happen again for years.