Rivers: A burly offensive lineman with natural anchor and above-average length, Rivers is best-suited for short spaces, where his athletic limitations can be mitigated. He could get a shot at right tackle but slow feet will put him in harm’s way against NFL edge rushers. He’s sturdy at the point against bull-rushers and space-eaters. He works with stiff hips and below-average base footwork, which often short-circuit attempts to leverage and clear the gaps. He’s a clunky mover who will be tied to scheme, but his mass and length increase his likelihood of finding starting reps on the interior, provided he can stay healthy.

Rivers sounds like a project.  The graphic lists him as a T, on the NFL Network they listed him as a G which is where he will probably end up for the Bengals.

Who Dey!

Tahj Brooks:  Stout runner and workhorse who handled a whopping 633 touches for Texas Tech’s offense over the last two seasons. Brooks runs low to the ground with a powerful base and instant cut quickness to shake tacklers or elude them in tight quarters. He can keep a run alive but doesn’t have the stride length or acceleration to create space and run away from a rally-hard defense, which could turn him into more of a try-hard grinder. He plays on third downs but hasn’t been all that explosive out of the backfield. Brooks’ productivity and ability to force missed tackles give him a chance to become an NFL backup.

I am ready to sign a couple of FA DBs, TEs, DTs and then get it going. 

I think the Bengals thing we learned from this draft, is that the Bengals still have a lot of belief in the players they drafted in recent years. Which kind of goes with some of the stories, that the Bengals didn’t believe many of the defensive coaches on staff in previous years did a good job at developing players they drafted. 
 

When you look at the Bengals defense, their top 5 corners are guys they drafted over the last 4 years. 3 of their top 4 safeties are guys they drafted the last few years. Same with DT, they recently drafted 2 DTs last year. None of those positions I just mentioned, did the Bengals spend a draft pick on. Showing they are counting on the new defensive coaches to coach them up. 
 

At LB the guys they have are getting older, and the LB room in general was slow. So they added much needed speed to the room. Which makes sense also, since Golden has a tendency to blitz more than what we saw from Lou. 
 

Then offensively the Bengals drafted two lineman who are known for being good pass protectors. The RB some said before the draft was the best back in pass blocking coming out. So they showed they are trying to give the new OL guys to coach up and protect Joe too. 
 

This draft definitely didn’t go as I or many people expected. However, the Bengal definitely seemed to have a plan going in to this draft. Which we got to see kind of how Golden wants to do things on defense, and what he likes as compared to what we may have seen from Lou. 
 

So solid draft overall IMO. 

1 hour ago, futurecoach said:

So solid draft overall IMO.

I thought so as well, but I was sort of surprised that both ESPN and CBS about an hour after the draft had given each team a draft grade and gave the Bengals just a C. I thought maybe a B or B- at the worst. I guess we will have to see how it plays out.

I wasn’t surprised.  Not at all.  They are young in the secondary and with so many holes they had to hope those guys develop.  They needed to address edge and they took a guy in round one based on athletic ability that hope translates into more production in the NFL.  Round two was straight up a reach.  I think Fairchild starts in week one at guard.  I like that pick.  Fourth through six rounds I can’t comment much on, plus those become more developmental guys.  I didn’t expect to take a RB this year but again in the sixth round it’s very pot luck.  In my opinion they did Bengals things in this draft and the last few years that hasn’t been good for the draft.  

Worst part of the draft is that I haven’t found one place that doesn’t have the Bengals draft ranked worst in the AFC North.  These are first reactions from people that don’t know the inter workings of the teams nor do they know how these prospects will develop in three years.  Time will tell, but it’s hard to win Super Bowls when a team like the Ravens is ran so well and drafts so well year after year.  Bengals haven’t played a game yet, but feels like they lost the draft.  

39 minutes ago, FatNate said:

Worst part of the draft is that I haven’t found one place that doesn’t have the Bengals draft ranked worst in the AFC North.  These are first reactions from people that don’t know the inter workings of the teams nor do they know how these prospects will develop in three years.  Time will tell, but it’s hard to win Super Bowls when a team like the Ravens is ran so well and drafts so well year after year.  Bengals haven’t played a game yet, but feels like they lost the draft.  

Average draft.  O-line and defense needed help and those were the areas addressed.  Just not certain these were the guys. 

So let's see ... headed into the draft Bengals needs were listed as DL, OG, perhaps LB, perhaps a RB late.

Then the Bengals draft arguably the best combo of size and speed DL, 2 LB's, an OG they say can start day 1, a good blocking and power type RB and another OL that may become another OG.

And everyone hates this draft?

Hmmmm .... 

Bengals have signed ESPN's top ranked undrafted player OSU center Seth McLaughlin. Past Remington Award winner as best NCAA center. Recovering from Achilles injury is why he wasn't drafted. 

Also signed ND DT Howard Cross III, projected as late round pick who had injuries drop him from the draft.

Cincyjungle.com does a great job on the Free Agents, here is a list of them and they have a story on each player:

• Arizona RB Quali Conley (Story)
• Auburn QB Payton Thorne (Story)
• Michigan LS William Wagner (Story)
• Duke WR Jordan Moore (Story)
• BYU OT Caleb Etienne (Story)
• Ohio State C Seth McLaughlin (Story)
• Notre Dame DT Howard Cross (Story)
• Arkansas DT Eric Gregory (Story)
• Rutgers S Shaquan Loyal (Story)
• West Virginia TE Kole Taylor (Story)
• Oklahoma State WR Rashod Owens (Story)
• Cincinnati WR Jamoi Mayes (Story)

11 hours ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

I thought so as well, but I was sort of surprised that both ESPN and CBS about an hour after the draft had given each team a draft grade and gave the Bengals just a C. I thought maybe a B or B- at the worst. I guess we will have to see how it plays out.

In regards to how ESPN had the Bengals players rated. The Bengals picked a few of the players earlier, than where espn had them ranked. So that probably explains their Bengals draft grade they gave.