Mel Kiper via sbnation.com:

 

Ravens, Bengals and Rams had the best overall drafts

 

The Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals and St. Louis Rams all earned "A-" ratings for filling team needs and finding value better than the other teams.

 

The Bengals earned an "A-" rating for the value of their draft. Kiper loved the selection of tight end Tyler Eifert at No. 21 overall, even if it didn't fill a glaring need. Eifert was Kiper's No. 8 prospect on his big board, and he considered the Notre Dame prospect a steal late in the first round. In the seventh, the Bengals may have made another good move in Ohio State offensive tackle Reid Fragel, according to Kiper.

Sports Illustrated writer Chris Burke seems to be a big fan of what the Bengals accomplished in the early rounds of the draft. He also mentions that Cincinnati was able to find some great value down the stretch.

 

In his latest article, he gave the Bengals a B-plus draft grade. Here's what Burke had to say:

TE Tyler Eifert brings a dynamic presence to this offense and RB Gio Bernard could, too. DE Margus Hunt might need some time to learn the NFL game. Cincinnati actually did quite well in the mid- to late rounds, with LBSean Porter and seventh-round OT Reid Fragel shaping up as very smart selections.

Vinnie Iyer of Sporting News seems ecstatic over the Bengals' haul in the 2013 NFL draft. Iyer is a big fan of all of the Bengals' early selections and seems to think they will be able to contribute immediately.

 

Iyer goes on to give the Bengals an A-minus in his latest article. Here is what he wrote:

Welcome to the Jungle, where the Bengals have buried their bungling, and done it with offense. See Notre Dame mismatch-creating tight end Tyler Eifert and North Carolina speed back Giovani Bernard. Andy Dalton and A.J. Green got it going in '11, and Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones were good follow-ups in '12. Eifert and Bernard are great options for Dalton to further break out of his Green dependency. They also made their defensive strength stronger, as SMU's 6-8 Estonian end Margus Hunt fits right in with their pass rush. Georgia's Shawn Williams fills free safety.

In his latest article onNFL.com, Elliot Harrison rates the Bengals as one of the draft's biggest winners.

 

Harrison is excited about what the Bengals were able to do for the team in the 2013 draft on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

 

He notes that the Bengals filled needs with great collegiate players and are clearly a team on the rise in the NFL. Here is what he wrote:

 

This is clearly a football team on the rise. The Bengals, who already had Jermaine Gresham on the roster, can now play two tight ends with a vengeance following the addition of first-round pick Tyler Eifert. Then the Bengals came back in the second round and grabbed a heckuva complement to BenJarvus Green-Ellis in Giovani Bernard, who averaged 6.7 yards per carry on 184 rushes last season at North Carolina. Fellow second-round pick Margus Hunt, meanwhile, will be worked into the rotation on the defensive line with Carlos Dunlap, Geno Atkins and Michael Johnson... as well as 2012 draftees Brandon Thompson and Devon Still.

One more note on Eifert: Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly told me that Eifert has worked hard to develop his in-line blocking. That should only help a Bengals team that finished 18th in rushing last season.

Dane Brugler, senior analyst forNFLDraftScout.com gives the Bengals praise for their entire draft class in his latest article.

 

Like other analysts, Brugler sees the talent that was drafted early by the Bengals. However, his analysis shows his admiration for the Bengals late-round steals.

 

This is what Brugler had to say after he gave the Bengals' draft an "A":

A year ago, I thought the Bengals had one of the NFL's top drafts and they started strong again this year with the interesting selection of Tyler Eifert, a terrific pass-catcher who'll complement A.J. Green and Andy Dalton's talent in the short to intermediate passing attack. The Bengals had been long rumored to like Giovani Bernard as a complement to Benjarvus Green-Ellis. They wasted no time in showing it, making the multi-purpose Tar Heel the first running back drafted in 2013. The Bengals re-stock the defensive line each year, and the 6-foot-8, 277-pound Margus Hunt has the athleticism to prove a steal -- just like Michael Johnson, Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins as non-first-round picks for the Bengals. Finally, Cincinnati nabbed one of my personal favorites in Shawn Williams, a no-nonsense safety who'll bring some toughness in the secondary. I'm just as high on their third-day picks. Rex Burkhead would've been drafted much earlier a year ago but slipped after an injury-plagued senior season. And if Texas A&M outside linebacker Sean Witherspoon and Kansas offensive tackle Tanner Hawkinson get in the weight room, they'll surprise.

Bleacher Report's own AFC North lead writerAndrea Hangst weighed in on the draft selections by all 32 teams. She notes the improvement of the Bengals' drafts in recent years and sees the trend continue in 2013.

 

Hangst gives the Bengals a B-plus for their 2013 NFL draft efforts in her latest article.

 

She writes:

The Cincinnati Bengals' draft-day decisions are made by a combination of owner Mike Brown and player personnel vice presidents Paul and Pete Brown. This family has been the source of much criticism in the past, but in the last three years that has changed drastically. The Bengals have become one of the best-drafting teams in the NFL, and 2013 continues that trend.

In the spirit of teams taking the best player available in Round 1, the Bengals took top tight end Tyler Eifert, adding a major weapon to allow quarterback Andy Dalton to take a big third-year leap. In the second round, need and talent were met when the Bengals got running back Giovani Bernard, the exact type of back they needed to pair with BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

• CBSSports.com’s Pete Prisco: Draft Grades: Don’t like instant? Here are grades, like ‘em or not

So after a weekend of the draft, I awarded four “A” grades. One went to the Arizona Cardinals, one to the Cincinnati Bengals, one to the Jaguars and the other to the Minnesota Vikings. All four had great weekends picking players.

 

Cincinnati Bengals

 

Best pick: I don’t usually like taking backs high, but Giovani Bernard in the second round is perfect for this team. They need a space back, and he is that.

 

Questionable move: It’s not that first-round pick Tyler Eifert isn’t a good player, but they already had Jermaine Gresham. Then again, there aren’t a lot of holes on the roster.

 

Third-day gem: Fourth-round linebacker Sean Porter was once considered a first-day prospect. Getting him where they got him is nice value.

 

Analysis: For the second consecutive year, the Bengals had a big haul. They landed a lot of quality players for a roster that already had a bunch. There is no more laughing at the way they draft.

 

Grade: A

The consensus looks like B+ or better.

 

Agree or Disagree?

 

Finally, thanks to http://www.bleacherreport.com for compiling most of that information.

Personally I thought they did well to get Eifert. I'm not a Gresham fan. A+ talent. C- effort.

Personally I thought they did well to get Eifert. I'm not a Gresham fan. A+ talent. C- effort.

 

Gresham is a head case and he looked a step slow this year.

 

Stick to the grade, what grade do you think the Bengals earned with their 2013 Draft?

B. I don't think you can grade a draft for at least 2 seasons. But on paper, I'll say it was a good draft once again.

I'm with doc. I'm no expert by any means, but most of the need was on the offensive side of the ball.

 

B+.

My thinking before reading what the experts had to say was a solid B.

The consensus looks like B+ or better.

 

Agree or Disagree?

 

Finally, thanks to Bleacher Report | Entertaining sports news, photos and slideshows for compiling most of that information.

 

I think their grades are just about right, so I agree. I am interested in hearing what Content has to say about these grades, because he sure didn't like their draft.

I liked what the Bengals did. The first thing that I think of though is you can have all the talent in the world but if you have bad coaches you will never see how great players can really be.

So that is the question I have. Marvin reminds me of Dusty Baker, when you have all the talent in the world but coaching holds you back, how good of a team can you become....only time will tell and so far the time since Marvin has been here has shown nothing much.