Zac's draft call to Connor 📱

7 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

OK, that's something. If he can do that and not get worn like a hood ornament facing Dex I may come around but still.. Why take the bum knee instead of a healthy player?

This is an easy question to answer.

Because if you draft a (currently) healthy player at pick 128 in a mediocre draft, that prospect will not be very good. At best he might become a career backup. Lew is only 20 years old and has a career starter type ceiling, according to most analysts. If the Bengals had a young starting center at this very moment, maybe they would have settled for the (currently) healthy player without much upside at pick 128. But Scott Peters is looking for a future starter to snap for Burrow.

1 minute ago, dex said:

This is an easy question to answer.

Because if you draft a (currently) healthy player at pick 128 in a mediocre draft, that prospect will not be very good. At best he might become a career backup. Lew is only 20 years old and has a career starter type ceiling, according to most analysts. If the Bengals had a young starting center at this very moment, maybe they would have settled for the (currently) healthy player without much upside at pick 128. But Scott Peters is looking for a future starter to snap for Burrow.

But they still don't have a young, healthy center. That's the point. I mean sure, its a 4th round pick, fuck it who cares.. there were probably healthy players on the board that could contribute, is all.

8 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

So when the O line goes to The Precinct he will have to order a strawberry Yoo-Hoo.

Won't be seeing him at the Hard Rock with Mims and George.

18 minutes ago, dex said:

This is an easy question to answer.

Because if you draft a (currently) healthy player at pick 128 in a mediocre draft, that prospect will not be very good. At best he might become a career backup. Lew is only 20 years old and has a career starter type ceiling, according to most analysts. If the Bengals had a young starting center at this very moment, maybe they would have settled for the (currently) healthy player without much upside at pick 128. But Scott Peters is looking for a future starter to snap for Burrow.

imagine that...

logic. reason. common sense. information based on the most basic understanding of roster construction...

love to see it.

Yes yes, all things the Bengals do are smart and right and proper, only a fool would ever question them, amen.

Imagine that.

2 hours ago, Le Tigre said:

Reading all sorts of “analysis” that he doesn’t have run-block abilities and is a “step slow” in pass blocking.

One “journalist’” ceiling is another “journalist’s” floor it seems

Allways..

Kid looks solid .

We need a solid prospect... got him

23 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

Pulling for this young man..

The Athletic's Paul Dehner's choice for best value pick:

Best value pick

Connor Lew. It’s fair to wonder where Lew would have gone off the board had he not torn his ACL in October. He’s “ahead of schedule” and said he expects to be 100 percent for training camp, so he’ll be ready to settle in behind starter Ted Karras as a rookie. Lew was on a path to be a potential top-50 pick. He was a freshman All-American at Auburn and established himself as a leader and captain despite being only 20 years old entering the league. Lew’s strength is in pass protection, which makes him an ideal fit in Cincinnati, and holding up in the SEC for three years serves as an ideal training ground for the NFL trenches.

The Bengals hit on third-round guard Dylan Fairchild last year, the first real mid-round offensive lineman success story in 15 years. Part of that credit goes to being a match for offensive line coach Scott Peters’ style, with his background in martial arts. Fairchild was a wrestler in high school, as was Lew. That approach to the position was one worth taking a second swing at for Cincinnati.

“You don’t pick a player simply because the coach loves him and we think the player will work well with the coach,” offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “But it matters. We all have jobs to do, we all put the time, effort and energy in, but when you truly believe in somebody, there’s a little bit extra there. That’s what we felt about Dylan last year, and I know that’s how we feel about Connor.”

The idea is that Lew could be the Bengals’ starting center in 2027, succeeding the 33-year-old Karras, if this year goes well for him. That’s an easy path to envision

18 hours ago, T-Dub said:

OK, that's something. If he can do that and not get worn like a hood ornament facing Dex I may come around but still.. Why take the bum knee instead of a healthy player?

Why? Because long term he should recover from ACL surgery as many players have. He’s not projected to start this year anyway so I don’t see your point. Should they never draft players who have been injured?

Lew is one of the top 10 values in The Athletic's top 10 values & top 10 reaches in the draft. Cincinnati didn't have any of the top 10 reaches...probably for the first time in several years.

Connor Lew, C, Cincinnati Bengals

Consensus board ranking: No. 87

Draft selection: No. 128

Lew possesses everything a team would look for when drafting a player. He has ample experience, starting 25 games and serving as a team captain while being only 20 years old. Center is not a highly valued position, which is why the No. 87 player on the consensus board was available for the Bengals at No. 128.

6 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

Why? Because long term he should recover from ACL surgery as many players have. He’s not projected to start this year anyway so I don’t see your point. Should they never draft players who have been injured?

No back up is projected to start, hence the name. Then shit happens. A backup that isn't healthy enough to play isn't a backup. You following?

I would prefer they not draft players that are currently injured, yeah. That doesn't seem unreasonable.

1 minute ago, T-Dub said:

No back up is projected to start, hence the name. Then shit happens. A backup that isn't healthy enough to play isn't a backup. You following?

I would prefer they not draft players that are currently injured, yeah. That doesn't seem unreasonable.

If his recovery schedule does look like he'll be ready for training camp, and those medicals have been checked by us, I'm fine with it. But you've got to be thorough in checking.

3 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

No back up is projected to start, hence the name. Then shit happens. A backup that isn't healthy enough to play isn't a backup. You following?

I would prefer they not draft players that are currently injured, yeah. That doesn't seem unreasonable.

It’s April, not September. All reports indicate he’ll be ready to go by then. Strange thing to bitch about but that’s your choice.

2 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

It’s April, not September. All reports indicate he’ll be ready to go by then. Strange thing to bitch about but that’s your choice.

Hey I hope so, guess we'll find out in September.

4 hours ago, T-Dub said:

No back up is projected to start, hence the name. Then shit happens. A backup that isn't healthy enough to play isn't a backup. You following?

I would prefer they not draft players that are currently injured, yeah. That doesn't seem unreasonable.

Those are big ifs for a risk that was entirely avoidable. It's not really a question of whether he will recover in time, it's why choose to take on that uncertainty voluntarily?

If he's that much better than everyone else that was still on the board, cool.

1 hour ago, T-Dub said:

Those are big ifs for a risk that was entirely avoidable. It's not really a question of whether he will recover in time, it's why choose to take on that uncertainty voluntarily?

If he's that much better than everyone else that was still on the board, cool.

FWIW, the consensus big board position rankings had him valued in the 80-90 range so getting him at pick 128 was decent value if nothing else. He was the 4th center off the board, taken late in the 4th round after the Bengals traded down to net an additional 4th round pick. Time will tell if their evaluation was correct.

1 minute ago, Inigo Montoya said:

FWIW, the consensus big board position rankings had him valued in the 80-90 range so getting him at pick 128 was decent value if nothing else. He was the 4th center off the board, taken late in the 4th round after the Bengals traded down to net an additional 4th round pick. Time will tell if their evaluation was correct.

Id have liked it a lot better if they already had a backup center on the roster. This dude is going to be one errant banana peel away from having to fill some very big cleats & he's currently (I assume) on crutches. I'd call that less than ideal.

I guess I should resign myself to every Bengals draft including one knee brace and one ankle monitor.

27 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

Id have liked it a lot better if they already had a backup center on the roster. This dude is going to be one errant banana peel away from having to fill some very big cleats & he's currently (I assume) on crutches. I'd call that less than ideal.

I guess I should resign myself to every Bengals draft including one knee brace and one ankle monitor.

Crutches? He’s about 6 months post surgery so I doubt he’s using crutches. Yeah, it’s not ideal but then again Week One isn’t next week.

13 hours ago, T-Dub said:

Id have liked it a lot better if they already had a backup center on the roster. This dude is going to be one errant banana peel away from having to fill some very big cleats & he's currently (I assume) on crutches. I'd call that less than ideal.

I guess I should resign myself to every Bengals draft including one knee brace and one ankle monitor.

Jacob Bayer

https://www.bengals.com/team/players-roster/jacob-bayer/