As Bengals fans went to sleep Saturday night, there were plenty of moans and groans. Watching the Saints move up and take who was rightfully ours (at least according to every mock draft this side of the Mississippi) DT Sedrick Ellis. It made a lot of Bengals fans feel like we missed on yet another chance to make the Bengals a great team.
I was still a little perturbed on Sunday morning. A running back was expected in the draft, and now there weren't many decent ones left. Looking at the best available at the beginning of the 3rd round, I thought Kevin Smith had to be the best player left. This was confirmed when Detroit traded up and grabbed him almost before any other team noticed that the draft had restarted bright and early at 10AM eastern. By this time, no Bengals fan knew what to expect to flash up when we finally reached pick #77.
Ahhhh. A sigh of relief. A defensive tackle, and a highly rated one at that. Pat Sims from Auburn, was the highest drafted DT by Cincinnati since "Big Daddy" Wilkinson himself. He was a projected 2nd rounder, so it was good value when he fell into our laps. The first thing to notice about him is his size. He is listed at 6'3" and 310 pounds, an excellent size and more like the type of player Marvin likes to play in the middle. The measureables are there, but he seems to look too much like Sam Adams, even though he's in his early 20's. He's got what coaches call a "pear shaped" body. From the looks of it, he hasn't had much of a strength program to get him in better shape. This makes it even more amazing just how well he played last year. He was credited with 4.5 sacks, 15 Qb hurries, and 13 tackles for loss. If he played that well in the SEC out of shape, what can he do when an NFL strength coach gets a hold of him? He may be nothing more than a rotational player this upcoming year, but look out in 2009. I predict that is when he hits his stride, and starts to make himself a true defensive playmaker.
The second selection in the third round was a WR out of Florida, Andre Caldwell, brother of NFL WR Reche Caldwell. He stands a little over six feet and about 205 pounds. At Florida's pro-day, he apparently ran a 4.35 40 yard dash. He was most often compared to Hines Ward, though I doubt he has the smugness Hines wears all over his face. The comparison was probably due to the fact that Caldwell is such a great blocker for a WR. That is where the comparisons end. Hines runs much closer to a 4.6, so Andre brings a distinct advantage to the table. He and Simpson appear to have the talent and maturity to step in and contribute this fall, Caldwell at the least on special teams returning kicks.
As the third round closes, maybe the fans don't feel so bad after all. Instead of trading the 77th pick to get Ellis, we end up with a great linebacker (Rivers) and a very solid DT in Sims. As one Cincinnati sportswriter put it "I'd rather have an A- and a B+ than just an A+."
We've strongly bolstered our WR core, added a defensive leader at LB, and a young, promising DT to stop the run.
**Interesting note. I read somewhere that the average ypc against teams who draft a DT in the first round, showed that their run defense got worse, by 0.4 yards per carry!! One stud DT can't solve everything against the run, so isn't it better to get 2 guys who can run defend?
Next....Rounds 4 and 5.
Maltzy
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Day 1 Draft Analysis
WARNING! FIRST POST EVER!
At the end of a long weekend of draft watching, now is the time to release my thoughts. I named my blog after a former Cincinnati Red, Sean Casey. He will always be one of my favorite ball players to ever don a Reds uniform.
Today I'd like to break down the Bengals draft and how it looks going forward. Bengals fans expected to see a Best Player Available strategy, and were rewarded with exactly that.
In the first round the Bengals selected Keith Rivers, a Linebacker from USC. It was an expected pick as Sedrick Ellis, the player most linked to the bengals in mock drafts, was picked 2 spots earlier by the New Orleans Saints. I was one of the many Bengals fans that wondered why they didn't attempt to trade up instead of the Saints. Anybody who has seen the Bengals play the last several years has noticed a particular weak spot on the defensive line, at Defensive Tackle. Ellis would have been a huge upgrade, but it was not the best situation for the Bengals to be in to use a 3rd round pick to trade up. Rivers was the best defensive player available, so the pick was definitely a solid one. Rivers himself was excited to be on his way to Cincy, apparent in his videos posted on his own blog
http://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/Im_a_Cincinnati_Bengal/259606
Being a longtime fan, it's nice to see a player excited to be a Bengal. His leadership and talent should provide a powerful presence on the Bengals defense for years to come. Picking him allowed fans to make a comparison against trading up to get Ellis and staying put. I'll discuss that on my Day 2 look at the draft.
The second round provided dramatics, for most Bengals fans. If you've followed the team in years past, you probably noticed that Marvin Lewis, the Bengals head coach and GM de facto, always seems to draft a player that you least expect, when you least expect it. Marvin selected Jerome Simpson, a Wide Receiver out of Division 2 Coastal Carolina. He's an underrated receiver with great athleticism who, after some research, seems worthy of a second round pick. I was definitely part of the group of fans that said "Who???", when the pick was announced. At the time, there were numerous receivers available that were consistently rated above Simpson. These included Limas Sweed, Desean Jackson, and Malcolm Kelly. But these ratings were all done by those outside of NFL war rooms and without the personal insight gained by NFL coaches and GMs. Jerome Simpson, apparently, was looked at as a playmaker who consistently amazed those who watched him, on film or in person. He made quite an impression on coaches at the Senior bowl and showed excellent character at the NFL combine.
He's probably most known as the guy who made an amazing one-handed catch that made top plays on ESPN's Sportscenter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B85po3KBdY
He has extremely large hands and great leaping ability. His hands were measured at the combine as the biggest for a reciever and he also had one the highest vertical jumps at over 40". The only stat you need to know about him is his production in four years of college.
44 career touchdowns and an average yards per catch at around 16 1/2.
With these two players selected so early, Marvin Lewis expects both of them to contribute from Day 1. Not many doubt that Rivers can, but an interesting thing to watch during the spring will be Simpson's development as he brings himself up to NFL speed.
Check in tomorrow for Day 2 of the draft.
Maltzy
At the end of a long weekend of draft watching, now is the time to release my thoughts. I named my blog after a former Cincinnati Red, Sean Casey. He will always be one of my favorite ball players to ever don a Reds uniform.
Today I'd like to break down the Bengals draft and how it looks going forward. Bengals fans expected to see a Best Player Available strategy, and were rewarded with exactly that.
In the first round the Bengals selected Keith Rivers, a Linebacker from USC. It was an expected pick as Sedrick Ellis, the player most linked to the bengals in mock drafts, was picked 2 spots earlier by the New Orleans Saints. I was one of the many Bengals fans that wondered why they didn't attempt to trade up instead of the Saints. Anybody who has seen the Bengals play the last several years has noticed a particular weak spot on the defensive line, at Defensive Tackle. Ellis would have been a huge upgrade, but it was not the best situation for the Bengals to be in to use a 3rd round pick to trade up. Rivers was the best defensive player available, so the pick was definitely a solid one. Rivers himself was excited to be on his way to Cincy, apparent in his videos posted on his own blog
http://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/Im_a_Cincinnati_Bengal/259606
Being a longtime fan, it's nice to see a player excited to be a Bengal. His leadership and talent should provide a powerful presence on the Bengals defense for years to come. Picking him allowed fans to make a comparison against trading up to get Ellis and staying put. I'll discuss that on my Day 2 look at the draft.
The second round provided dramatics, for most Bengals fans. If you've followed the team in years past, you probably noticed that Marvin Lewis, the Bengals head coach and GM de facto, always seems to draft a player that you least expect, when you least expect it. Marvin selected Jerome Simpson, a Wide Receiver out of Division 2 Coastal Carolina. He's an underrated receiver with great athleticism who, after some research, seems worthy of a second round pick. I was definitely part of the group of fans that said "Who???", when the pick was announced. At the time, there were numerous receivers available that were consistently rated above Simpson. These included Limas Sweed, Desean Jackson, and Malcolm Kelly. But these ratings were all done by those outside of NFL war rooms and without the personal insight gained by NFL coaches and GMs. Jerome Simpson, apparently, was looked at as a playmaker who consistently amazed those who watched him, on film or in person. He made quite an impression on coaches at the Senior bowl and showed excellent character at the NFL combine.
He's probably most known as the guy who made an amazing one-handed catch that made top plays on ESPN's Sportscenter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B85po3KBdY
He has extremely large hands and great leaping ability. His hands were measured at the combine as the biggest for a reciever and he also had one the highest vertical jumps at over 40". The only stat you need to know about him is his production in four years of college.
44 career touchdowns and an average yards per catch at around 16 1/2.
With these two players selected so early, Marvin Lewis expects both of them to contribute from Day 1. Not many doubt that Rivers can, but an interesting thing to watch during the spring will be Simpson's development as he brings himself up to NFL speed.
Check in tomorrow for Day 2 of the draft.
Maltzy
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