17 days until the draft.

[CrashDavisSports]

No, but you always want to see where a guy may fit when you take him - BPA or not.

You listed off all the spots ahead of a potential guy - I rebutted. You made it seem like there is zero room, when in actuality there may be plenty of room.

That's all I was getting at. When you look at all the names in the Safety room - sure this year would be crowded - but going forward it would not.

So now you take a 4th round safety, and he doesn't make the team, and goes to the practice squad. Think someone doesn't sign him at that value? I am just saying, if we draft a safety, think he is much much later in the draft so we can stuff him on the practice squad.

Not this year, but next, Hill will be in his 4th year, Battle in his third and you still have Geno Stone for another year. You can at that point draft a rookie to work into the backup role behind those three guys without taking a massive leadership hit like we did with Bates and Bell last year.

As I said, I don't disagree that you need to plan ahead, but I think with who we signed in free agency, how many guys we have on the roster at that spot, 3-5 rounds will not be a spot for a safety and it sure as heck won't be before that. We staggered our safety experience and availability up a bit better this time, so the time to draft a safety in the 1st to 3rd round would be next year.

 

[jbuck]

yea that was stupid

 

[Cincyfan78]

So now you take a 4th round safety, and he doesn't make the team, and goes to the practice squad. Think someone doesn't sign him at that value? I am just saying, if we draft a safety, think he is much much later in the draft so we can stuff him on the practice squad.

Not this year, but next, Hill will be in his 4th year, Battle in his third and you still have Geno Stone for another year. You can at that point draft a rookie to work into the backup role behind those three guys without taking a massive leadership hit like we did with Bates and Bell last year.

As I said, I don't disagree that you need to plan ahead, but I think with who we signed in free agency, how many guys we have on the roster at that spot, 3-5 rounds will not be a spot for a safety and it sure as heck won't be before that. We staggered our safety experience and availability up a bit better this time, so the time to draft a safety in the 1st to 3rd round would be next year.

You're saying he doesn't make the team...

if he's BPA and they take him, clearly they see a path for him making the team.

Anderson is coming off an ACL late in the season. He may not be ready. Hill is moving to CB, potentially. That leaves you with just 3 safeties....

I'm not arguing that they have to take a Safety at all, but I am arguing that the thought process that there are too many is wrong.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

You're saying he doesn't make the team...

if he's BPA and they take him, clearly they see a path for him making the team.

Anderson is coming off an ACL late in the season. He may not be ready. Hill is moving to CB, potentially. That leaves you with just 3 safeties....

I'm not arguing that they have to take a Safety at all, but I am arguing that the thought process that there are too many is wrong.

If those two things occur, then yes, I can see some thought process on it. But from all indications Anderson is back and ready, and it hasn't been decided on Hill yet. But yes, if they move Hill and Anderson isn't really ready, I don't see an easy path for a safety on this roster. At the point we draft another S earlier, you can almost guarantee Hill is going to CB and Anderson is getting cut.

On the CB side we now have:

Dax Hill
Cam Taylor-Britt
DJ Turner
DJ Ivey
Mike Hilton

I can see us going CB over S if it came down to that 3rd round pick needing to be secondary.

 

[DanBengalfan]

13 days

 

[Cincyfan78]

 

[jbuck]

we were a SB team a couple years ago. that team's defense was Anchored by Reader. Didn't take long for him to get signed. I hope they find a guy like him but I doubt it.
Not
For
Long
I guess

 

[Cincyfan78]

we were a SB team a couple years ago. that team's defense was Anchored by Reader. Didn't take long for him to get signed. I hope they find a guy like him but I doubt it.
Not
For
Long
I guess

Well, they got Rankins.

I'm really curious because they didn't try very hard to re-sign Reader. There are 2 thoughts with this:

1 - They just didn't trust his body would hold up. He didn't line up in the 0 (true NT) spot as often as fans think and his body had suffered 2 major injuries in 4 years. He missed time. On the market though, there just aren't a ton of guys like Reader who do what he does. In the draft the best fits would be A - Murphy from Texas and B - Sweat, his teammate. Murphy is more of a NT/3T hybrid, but actually played more NT than Sweat did. Sweat would be a pure NT type DT. To me, Murphy would be the ideal fit for this DL especially next to Rankins. It's why I often look to select him at 18 and hope to land a solid backup OT in round 2 or 3 in a lot of my PFF mocks.

2 - They lacked consistent pass-rush from the DT spot, and only have 1 guy (the 3-tech) as a true rush threat forced Lou to reconsider how he uses his DT's, especially at the NT spot. This means less of a true NT and more of 3T/hybrid guys to rotate through.

I don't think we'll know fully which direction is which until after the draft and after the 2nd waive of F/A after the draft to see which direction Lou is taking this defense. I wouldn't be shocked if it was in a different direction than what was done when Reader was here...

 

[cincygrad]

Well, they got Rankins.

I'm really curious because they didn't try very hard to re-sign Reader. There are 2 thoughts with this:

1 - They just didn't trust his body would hold up. He didn't line up in the 0 (true NT) spot as often as fans think and his body had suffered 2 major injuries in 4 years. He missed time. On the market though, there just aren't a ton of guys like Reader who do what he does. In the draft the best fits would be A - Murphy from Texas and B - Sweat, his teammate. Murphy is more of a NT/3T hybrid, but actually played more NT than Sweat did. Sweat would be a pure NT type DT. To me, Murphy would be the ideal fit for this DL especially next to Rankins. It's why I often look to select him at 18 and hope to land a solid backup OT in round 2 or 3 in a lot of my PFF mocks.

2 - They lacked consistent pass-rush from the DT spot, and only have 1 guy (the 3-tech) as a true rush threat forced Lou to reconsider how he uses his DT's, especially at the NT spot. This means less of a true NT and more of 3T/hybrid guys to rotate through.

I don't think we'll know fully which direction is which until after the draft and after the 2nd waive of F/A after the draft to see which direction Lou is taking this defense. I wouldn't be shocked if it was in a different direction than what was done when Reader was here...

One of the Bengal twitter people discussed point 2 - If you go back and look at defensive alignment, Lou was using more of a hybird approach in alignment of his DTs even when Reader was healthy and in the game. There are also a bunch of advanced metrics that talk about how minimal rushing performance actually changes offensive efficiency and winning %. It's possible that they are leaning into a different approach for the D-line and for how they will attempt to stop the run while hopefully bolstering inside pressure.

 

[DanBengalfan]

9 days

 

[DanBengalfan]

8 days

 

[Cincyfan78]

One of the Bengal twitter people discussed point 2 - If you go back and look at defensive alignment, Lou was using more of a hybird approach in alignment of his DTs even when Reader was healthy and in the game. There are also a bunch of advanced metrics that talk about how minimal rushing performance actually changes offensive efficiency and winning %. It's possible that they are leaning into a different approach for the D-line and for how they will attempt to stop the run while hopefully bolstering inside pressure.

Yes - I think I posted it somewhere on here, but Goodberry actually showed the % of lining up at the 0, and Reader and Tuopu only did it like 11% of the time all year.

This all being said - the more I think about it - the more I really feel like if Murphy is there at #18 - he's the guy. You get an immediate starter on the DL, and one of the best DT rush guys who can also play on that strong-side DT spot.

Still a lot of good OT's to project behind Brown for 5-6-7 weeks until you may need him (hopefully not, though).

 

[cincygrad]

Yes - I think I posted it somewhere on here, but Goodberry actually showed the % of lining up at the 0, and Reader and Tuopu only did it like 11% of the time all year.

This all being said - the more I think about it - the more I really feel like if Murphy is there at #18 - he's the guy. You get an immediate starter on the DL, and one of the best DT rush guys who can also play on that strong-side DT spot.

Still a lot of good OT's to project behind Brown for 5-6-7 weeks until you may need him (hopefully not, though).

This is where I landed. Going back to last year's playoffs, the same trend emerged.... You need pressure against the pass to beat the good teams and we are overly reliant on one guy. Pass rushing 3-tech guys are acquired in the first round or not at all (or at least rarely outside).

 

[Cincyfan78]

This is where I landed. Going back to last year's playoffs, the same trend emerged.... You need pressure against the pass to beat the good teams and we are overly reliant on one guy. Pass rushing 3-tech guys are acquired in the first round or not at all (or at least rarely outside).

And as I've said going back to last year - the DL in the run game suffered, but it was more the lack of experience in the secondary that lead to so many breakdowns. They lost a lot of contain and missed tackles. Hopefully, experience for all the guys helps to mitigate that as well as having nearly everyone with at least a full year, or more, in Lou's system.

 

[DanBengalfan]

7 days

 

[CrashDavisSports]

And as I've said going back to last year - the DL in the run game suffered, but it was more the lack of experience in the secondary that lead to so many breakdowns. They lost a lot of contain and missed tackles. Hopefully, experience for all the guys helps to mitigate that as well as having nearly everyone with at least a full year, or more, in Lou's system.

I am with you all the way now. I think Murphy, if available gives us our best chance in round one to fix some things. We need someone like a Chris Jones/Aaron Donald, A dominating presence in the middle of t he defensive line. Between Rankins and Murphy, we would definitely get more pressure on the QB, forcing them to the outside where Hendrickson is at.

The last two playoff games we lost were because of pass rushing defensive tackles. Grab Murphy if he is there, I think Newton is even a great backup as a pass rusher DT. However, if Fuaga is there, take him and don't think twice about it.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

All these crazy ass made up trade proposals online are getting annoying.

Now we are supposed to be trading Dax Hill for the Steelers 98th pick. Ridiculous.

 

[Cincyfan78]

All these crazy ass made up trade proposals online are getting annoying.

Now we are supposed to be trading Dax Hill for the Steelers 98th pick. Ridiculous.

If anything, the Bengals would trade back...

I could see it if Murphy is off the board at 18 - and Newton plus at least 2 OT's are still there...I could see a small slide back to get maybe another 3rd.

That would then enable them to move back into the 2nd round, if so desired.

But the Bengals are not trading Hill and they are certainly not trading in the division....

 

[DanBengalfan]

All these crazy ass made up trade proposals online are getting annoying.

Now we are supposed to be trading Dax Hill for the Steelers 98th pick. Ridiculous.

all click bait.

 

[Cincyfan78]

A move that most may not realize as an impact to the draft, but adding a 2nd year to the contract likely means the Bengals are not going to use a late(r) round pick on a PS QB or future backup QB this year.

I would not be shocked, however, if for the 2nd year in a row the Bengals look to draft a punter in round 6 or 7...'ol boy was very bad last year...