Mock Draft and FA

[happyrid]

1. Sign Maualuga, Boling and Nugent to extensions. All have been productive players who know the system. None of them should get crazy FA offers like MJ and Collins did last offseason.

 

2. Sign one of the top free agent DEs. There's a fairly long list including Greg Hardy, Jabaal Sheard, Derrick Morgan, Brandon Graham, etc. Some of them will end up going off the market the first day for big money, but a few will slip through the cracks and end up being pretty good deals in the $6-8M per year range. I think the Bengals can and should be able to grab one of these guys and insert him as the starting RDE.

 

3. Sign a starting caliber blocking TE. Like DE, there are quite a few on the market. Anthony Fasano is visiting and would be a useful addition who likely won't cost more than $2M per year. 

 

4. Sign a coverage LB. A guy like Geno Hayes should only cost a couple million per year on a short term deal. Adding him would bring a veteran competitor for Lamur and give you a ton of flexibility in the draft. 

 

Draft

 

1. OT La'el Collins- I don't love the idea of an OT in the first, but there's a good chance that is where the value will lie. This is probably the best edge rusher draft in at least 5 years and I think we see a run on the DE/OLBs in the top 20 picks. This should allow one of the top 4 or 5 OTs to slide to 21. Collins is probably the best fit for the Bengals and a guy I think we all feel that they probably love. While he wouldn't project to start immediately, the odds that all of the Bengals guards and tackles stay healthy for 16 games is very slim. In fact, I can't remember a recent season in which that actually happened. So you figure that by the end of the year, Collins is in the starting lineup somewhere and making a big impact should the Bengals make the playoffs. 

 

2. DT Michael Bennett- It's been said by some that this draft has 8 very good DTs and then a big fall off. That seems about right and I think if any of the 8 make it to the Bengals pick in the mid-2nd round, they will snatch him up. Bennett would be an especially good fit because the Bengals need some pass rushing juice in the interior of their DL and Bennett would be a great addition to the DT rotation and a potential starter down the line.

 

3. WR Philip Dorsett- The Bengals haven't tried to hide that they are looking for a smaller, quicker WR to add to the 3 big WRs already on the roster. There are a half dozen of those guys that slot into the 2nd or 3rd rounds. The Bengals could strike early and pick their favorite of the bunch in the 2nd or wait until the 3rd and hope that a few of the group of similar guys slip through to round 3. I'll add Dorsett in this mock because he is the one legit 4.3 guy and the Hue has said he wants to add some "juice" to the WR group.

 

3. TE Jeff Heuerman- With the comp. pick awarded for losing MJ, the Bengals add a #3 TE to slot in behind Fasano and Eifert and perhaps eventually take over the lead blocking TE role when Fasano (or other FA TE) moves along. Heuerman is a great character guy and the type of all-around TE the Bengals love. He can block and has good hands. Not a mismatch guy like Eifert, but a capable receiver. 

 

4. CB Doran Grant- Back-to-back Buckeyes as the Bengals look to add some depth at CB. The top 4 look set, but assuming Newman isn't back, the Bengals could use a 5th CB for 2015 depth and also as a developmental prospect with guys like Jones and Hall getting older and set to hit FA in 2016. 

 

5. WR Chris Conley- We have to add a Georgia guy at some point and Conley looked amazing at the combine with a 4.3 forty and ridiculous jumping numbers. His tape is not bad either as he led UGA in receiving and made some really nice catches. It's possible that he rises even higher and the 5th round is way too late to grab him, but for now this looks like where his stock has settled. I see the Bengals grabbing a pair of WRs just like the Sanu/Jones draft and a bigger guy like Conley to complement the smaller slot guy in the 3rd makes a ton of sense.

 

5. S Anthony Harris- The Bengals add a bit more depth to the secondary. I think the top 3 Safeties are set with Iloka, Nelson and Williams but a 4th legit guy would be a welcome addition. Hoping for a 4th round comp. for Collins but 5th may be more likely due to just how poor his 2014 season was.

 

6. C Andy Gallik- The Bengals need to add some depth at Center after cutting Pollak. Practice Squad candidate. 

 

7. LB Zach Hodges- Competition for the last LB spot and possible PS candidate.

[JBandJoeyV]

Depending on which DE we get, Id maybe want to do a little more in FA.

 

But not bad none the less. 

 

I think right now we have 7 main wholes to fill in FA and the draft. Resign Rey and Boling and that two of them. 2 you can probably get in the first two rounds of the draft. That means we need to sign 3 outside FAs that are starting caliber. Hardy, Fasano, and a LB would work for me.

 

MLB

SLB

3rd DT

DE

LG

Swing Tackle

TE

[happyrid]

Depending on which DE we get, Id maybe want to do a little more in FA.

 

But not bad none the less. 

 

I think right now we have 7 main wholes to fill in FA and the draft. Resign Rey and Boling and that two of them. 2 you can probably get in the first two rounds of the draft. That means we need to sign 3 outside FAs that are starting caliber. Hardy, Fasano, and a LB would work for me.

 

MLB

SLB

3rd DT

DE

LG

Swing Tackle

TE

 

Agree completely with your list of needs. Also agree we need at least 3 "starting caliber" outside FAs if we keep Boling/Maualuga. I think one of them will be our blocking TE because I don't think there are any early round draft options to fill the position. That leaves 2 others. DE would probably be the most expensive but also the most important, which is why I would love to see them pony up a contract in the $7M per year range on one of the top guys. If you strike out on a FA DE you almost have to take one in round 1 and who knows if a guy they like will fall that far. 

 

Signing a DE and TE would just leave one more pre-draft hole to fill. Options would include a SLB, swing tackle, or 3rd DT. I chose SLB with Geno Hayes because I think it would be the cheapest and easiest to fill but we could target somebody like Anthony Collins at swing tackle or somebody like Kendall Langford at DT instead.

 

Any of these (LB, DT, OT) would make sense in FA, but I like the idea of drafting OT and DT early because with a lot of guys set to hit FA soon, we probably need guys with 2016 and beyond starting potential and those are very tough to find in FA.

[HairOnFire]

 

2. Sign one of the top free agent DEs. There's a fairly long list including Greg Hardy, Jabaal Sheard, Derrick Morgan, Brandon Graham, etc. Some of them will end up going off the market the first day for big money, but a few will slip through the cracks and end up being pretty good deals in the $6-8M per year range. I think the Bengals can and should be able to grab one of these guys and insert him as the starting RDE.

 

Biggest question facing the Bengals right now is how to address the RDE position.

 

I lean towards an early round draft pick, but if the Bengals favor FA I'd love to see Jabaal Sheard in stripes.

 

Really liked him when he came out a few years ago and I thought he played very well in a 4-3 scheme.

 

Solid draft.

[Jason]

Bennet, Heuerman, and Doran Grant?

 

Homer.

 

Why not draft Curtis Grant instead of Hodges and make it complete?

 

 

 

 

 

:ninja:

:lol:

 

The original version of my most recent mock also had Bennett at 53, but for some reason I don't see them drafting that many Buckeyes in 1 year.

[MichaelWeston]

Fasano is visiting?

[happyrid]

Bennet, Heuerman, and Doran Grant?

 

Homer.

 

Why not draft Curtis Grant instead of Hodges and make it complete?

 

 

 

 

 

:ninja:

:lol:

 

The original version of my most recent mock also had Bennett at 53, but for some reason I don't see them drafting that many Buckeyes in 1 year.

 

Ha, yeah didn't even realize I had 3 of them in there. 

 

Of the 3, Heuerman is the guy that is the best fit and most likely addition for the Bengal. He does a great job as a blocker. Like this play where he just destroys the DE:

 

http://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio-state-football/2014/11/42837/film-study-paving-the-way-for-curtis-samuels-23-yard-touchdown

 

I'm not that high on Doran Grant actually, but I haven't read about the CBs at all this year and he was one of the few I know is projected to go in that 4th round area. I do think that's the time where it might make sense to hit CB, but I don't have a strong opinion on which one fits best and don't know anything about the other guys projected in the mid-rounds so that's where the homer pick really came in as I just went with a name I knew.. 

 

As for Bennett, he probably goes before 53, but if not he's a great fit. We need to add a DT in either the draft or FA and ideally it would be a guy with some pass rushing chops to backup Atkins. We need to improve the pass rush overall and hopefully we can do so by adding a pass rushing DE and a pass rushing DT.