Best Draft Class Under Marvin

[Bengals1181]

Taking this article a step farther with the poll.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a question for which I had multiple answers. 

What is the best draft for the Cincinnati Bengals in the past 10 years, and why? 

At first, I had one answer. Then I had another. And then another. And another. I ended up ultimately making one single selection, and I'll share it in this space Wednesday afternoon, keeping with our new weekly tradition of crafting a response to a Tuesday poll question that I pose to you, our loyal ESPN.com readers. 
 

After looking at the Bengals' running game and the amount of carries the new Hue Jackson-led offense should give running backs BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Giovani Bernard, this week we're asking you to share your thoughts on the franchise's recent draft classes. Which one do you consider the best? Was it the 2009 class, headlined by Andre Smith and Rey Maualuga, that arrived months before Marvin Lewis' second playoff appearance as a head coach? Or was it the 2011 class that brought A.J. Green and Andy Dalton to Cincinnati? 

 

The original question came from Twitter, where Bengals fan @ReithMichael was simply curious as to what my own thoughts were. The question was such a good conversation starter that I decided to bring it here to you. But it's tweaked a bit. What we're asking you is: 

What recent draft class is the Bengals' best? 

In an effort to keep this representative of players on the current Bengals team, we're only looking at draft classes between 2009-13. There are still players from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Bengals' drafts currently playing, but far more members of the latter classes are contributing now. The 2009 season also is a good reference point because it has been since then that Cincinnati has been a consistent playoff contender. Other than their four-win 2010 season, the Bengals have been to the playoffs every other year since 2009. 

What's important to note here is that you also vote with what you believe constitutes "best." That word is subjective. You might believe the "best" draft class was the one that had the best talent. You could think "best" means the one with the most underrated talent. You may consider the "best" class the one that gave the Bengals the talent to complete this transformation from a moderately relevant division team to one that could be picked to win it year in and year out. I'll share my thoughts on what constitutes "best" in this instance during Wednesday's response. 

To give you a better idea of what the draft classes looked like each of those years, included below are the names (and in parenthesis, rounds) of the players the Bengals drafted each year since 2009. 

Bengals drafts by year 
2009: OT Andre Smith (1*), LB Rey Maualuga (2*), DE Michael Johnson (3*), TE Chase Coffman (3), C Jonathan Luigs (4), P Kevin Huber (5*), CB Morgan Trent (6), RB Bernard Scott (6), FB Fui Vakapuna (7), DT Clinton McDonald (7), WR Freddie Brown (7). 

2010: TE Jermaine Gresham (1*), DE Carlos Dunlap (2*), WR Jordan Shipley (3), CBBrandon Ghee (3*), DT Geno Atkins (4*), LB Roddrick Muckelroy (4), OG Otis Hudson (5), WRDezmon Briscoe (6), C Reggie Stephens (7). 

2011: WR A.J. Green (1*), QB Andy Dalton (2*), LB Dontay Moch (3), OG Clint Boling (4*), SRobert Sands (5), WR Ryan Whalen (6*), CB Korey Lindsey (7), RB Jay Finley 7). 

2012: CB Dre Kirkpatrick (1*), OG Kevin Zeitler (1*), DT Devon Still (2*), WR Mohamed Sanu(3*), DT Brandon Thompson (3*), TE Orson Charles (4*), CB Shaun Prater (5), WR Marvin Jones (5*), S George Iloka (5*), RB Dan Herron (6). 

2013: TE Tyler Eifert (1*), RB Giovani Bernard (2*), DE Margus Hunt (2*), S Shawn Williams(3*), LB Sean Porter (4*), OG Tanner Hawkinson (5*), RB Rex Burkhead (6*), WR Cobi Hamilton (6*), OT Reid Fragel (7), C T.J. Johnson (7*). 

*Indicates players who ended the 2013 season on the Bengals' roster. 

So which recent Bengals draft class do you think is the best?

 

http://espn.go.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/5756/bengals-poll-recent-draft-class-best

[Bengals1181]

IMO right now its 2010 followed closely by 2011.  I think 2012 has the chance to overtake them both though.

 

 

2003 also has to be up there, but is slightly diminished (fairly or unfairly) in how Palmer, Johnson, and Steinbach's runs went later in their careers.  Probably where hindsight works against it.

[alleycat]

Wow. The first takeaway, regardless of which one is best, is just how good, in general, many of these have been.  I also find myself shedding a tear over the loss of Clint McDonald.

[fluhartz]

IMO right now its 2010 followed closely by 2011.  I think 2012 has the chance to overtake them both though.

 

 

2003 also has to be up there, but is slightly diminished (fairly or unfairly) in how Palmer, Johnson, and Steinbach's runs went later in their careers.  Probably where hindsight works against it.

 

 

I totally agree..

 

and in like 2005 that 03 draft looked like it was going to be unbeatable.

[Oldcat]

 

 

I totally agree..

 

and in like 2005 that 03 draft looked like it was going to be unbeatable.

 

except maybe the 2005 draft itself.

[Oldcat]

The other thing this shows is that whatever the team does in talent evaluation clearly has worked pretty well.   Players have been disappointing mostly due to injury, and character issues far more than just not being very good.

 

Even guys like Guy-Check had some injuries that could well have hampered his development into a good player.

[fluhartz]

 

except maybe the 2005 draft itself.

 

 

ugh.. no kidding...

[SmoothD]

I voted 2012 because of the depth.

6 players from that draft have started multiple games.

[|Harley|]

I picked Green and Dalton because of the turnaround they made possible and that they were key players as rooks. Having said that, I'm not in love with this draft because ML could have had Colin Kap or R. Wilson.

[Bengals1181]

I picked Green and Dalton because of the turnaround they made possible and that they were key players as rooks. Having said that, I'm not in love with this draft because ML could have had Colin Kap or R. Wilson.

 

 

fyi Wilson was in 2012.

[Zins30]

I went with 2010.

 

2010 - Gresham, Dunlap, Shipley, Ghee, Atkins, Briscoe (12 votes [57.14%] - View)

 

I wish we could have gotten more out of the 3rd rounders but dang there's som2 pretty nice talent there.  I honestly think Briscoe could have produced here too if we could have stashed him.  He was OK in TB before injuries caught up.  Otis Hudson and Reggie Stephens were busts and Roddrick Muckelroy didn't do much either but with late round picks it's about 50/50.

 

Considering the talent we got out f 2nd and 4th rounds (I'dsay1st round production) I can't imagine doing much better.

[Oldcat]

I picked Green and Dalton because of the turnaround they made possible and that they were key players as rooks. Having said that, I'm not in love with this draft because ML could have had Colin Kap or R. Wilson.

 

Kaepernick was awful that first year and SF was able to bench him.  He needed some seasoning to play, which we could not really give him.  

[|Bunghole|]

From a productivity standpoint, the 2006 class isn't too shabby.

[Jason]

I am a little surprised 2009 did not get any votes.  For me it was between 2009 and 2010, and I went with 10 mostly because we got Geno.

[Orange 'n Black]

I am a little surprised 2009 did not get any votes.  For me it was between 2009 and 2010, and I went with 10 mostly because we got Geno.

 

It was a good class but probably underrated due to circumstances. Andre was underwhelming his first few years, Maualuga sucked when they gave him the headset and didn't stop sucking til they took it away, and MJ is probably about to move on. 

[Montecore]

2014 (*Crosses Fingers*)

[Khatmandude]

From a productivity standpoint, the 2006 class isn't too shabby.

 

I think 2006 just may be Marvin's best draft.  Joseph is damn good.  Rucker is a nice player in his own right.  But forget them for a second.  Bengals ended up with Whit and Peko......the leaders of the team and locker room....to this day.  One leader on each side of the ball.   2006 IMO is Marvin/MB's most important draft, if not the best draft. 

[happyrid]

There isn't one that really sticks out, but it seems like we at least got 1 or 2 good players from each class. I went with the Geno/Dunlap class though as I think those guys really turned the D around.

I also think that 2012 would look a lot better if the UDFAs counted. Burfict, Lamur and Robinson have all started games and were undrafted that season. In the long run, the undrafted guys may end up being better than the draft picks if some of those draft picks don't start playing better.

[Bengals1181]

There isn't one that really sticks out, but it seems like we at least got 1 or 2 good players from each class. I went with the Geno/Dunlap class though as I think those guys really turned the D around.

I also think that 2012 would look a lot better if the UDFAs counted. Burfict, Lamur and Robinson have all started games and were undrafted that season. In the long run, the undrafted guys may end up being better than the draft picks if some of those draft picks don't start playing better.

 

 

solid point.